Suggestions for an older Inspiron 1720

[SwampDog35]

Thank you all for your great suggestions.

Yes I do have a spare HDD slot. I also have the connector shown in the link. I am kinda anal when it comes to electronics. I still have my original box for my dell. Actually I have quite a few boxes of everything I own (wife thinks I'm crazy).

I believe I will do as suggested and buy some Memory first. Probably fresh installs of 2 x 2gigs to give me a total of 4.

I'll save up a few bucks and buy me a nice SSD so I don't sacrifice any performance.

Any other suggestions on what I can use the laptop for?

I use my iMac for everything else. Laptop has been abandoned for a couple of years. I'm trying to bring it back to life.

I thought about using the laptop somehow thru my home network to be a hub for my Raspberry Pi HTPC..... Can this be done? Is it worth my time?

Thanks a million

 

[nwo]

If you're not into multitasking, I would actually recommend getting an SSD boot drive before upgrading the RAM. 2GB for Vista shouldn't be too bad for the average user, as long as you have a SSD.

2x2GB of fresh DDR2 might end up costing you the same as a 120GB SSD, give or take 10 bucks.

 

[nusyo]

I have a similar laptop, and I went the ssd+Win7 router (it already had 4Gb ram).
Since you have space for 2nd hdd, you can always turn it into a media center pc (HTPC) and use it to watch movies/music on TV (it can be a very nice experience if you have surround sound and a nice TV/projector); or use plex server to supply content to raspberry pi.

If you get at least 120GB ssd, you can always install 3+ operating systems to play with or whatever (you can have a partition to share files between them) ... use your imagination

 

[alyarb]

don't stray from intel\crucial\samsung for SSDs, but they will definitely transform that laptop which still has plenty of power.

yeah, SSD + max out the RAM

 

[Gareth_SA]

Hi, Good day.

I bought my Inspiron 1720 in November 2007 and have been using it constantly all the time. During that time I upgraded the Ram to 2x2GB SODIMM's - I actually got the 800MHz RAM even though the Motherboard only runs it at 667Mhz because the faster ram was cheaper! (Damn DDR2 memory is going out of fashion because DDR3 took over a few years ago)

Current setup

CPU - Core 2 Duo T7500 (2.2GHz) (2.4GHz with IDA, more later)
Ram - 2 x 2GB PC2-6400
Graphics - NVidia GeForce 8600M GT (Overclocked - more later)
OS - Windows 7 sp1 64 Bit
HDD1 - 128GB SSD SATA3 6GB/s Crucial/Micron (1720 only uses SATA1)
HDD2 - 500GB 5400rpm SATA1 1.5GB/s Samsung (Storage)
Screen - 17" 1920x1200
(the main reason I have kept this laptop for so long is all the pixel real estate, and the two HDD Bays)


Basically I have been using this computer solidly, almost every day for almost 7 years! Gaming, Uni, Rendering, Design work, It has been working hard. Recently I stripped it down, took a tooth brush to it to get rid of dust, cleaned old, dried heat-paste and applied brand new ( even opened up video card and put on the GPU and GPU Memory chips) as the reason they get slower is thermal degradation from dried heat-paste)

Recently the battery started giving issues (as one would expect) but something Dell does not tell you is they use frequency scaling set in the BIOS that you cannot change and my 2.2GHz Processor was now limited to 600MHz! - I was on the verge of buying a new Laptop until I came across this forum here. http://techmonks.net/bypassing-the-dell-unrecognized-adapter-issue/

Anyway, after downloading RMClock 2.35, which you need a special RTCore64.sys for it to pick up the digital signature fro Windows 7 64 bit (I can find the link if anyone wants) Then you can use the RMClock to set multiple different setting and override those slow setting. Infact I was in the process of reading through this and I came across an undervolting guide for the T7500 that was using RMClock which reduces the core temperature by as much as 15*, which means later we can overclock the graphics card tremendously (more than 100% Increase in graphics performance according to 3D Mark 2006) - Undervolting guide I am referring to is here -

http://forum.notebookreview.com/dell-xps-studio-xps/276661-advanced-rmclock-powersaving-whining-stop.html

It is quite long winded, but worth noting that you need two states, Super LFM and Normal 11x but at a lower voltage of 1,025V instead of 1,2125V

This allows you to install ANOTHER Program, I use PowerStrip 3.90 which works in Windows 7 64Bit and then I overclocked it incrementally until I got the results I wanted.

Below is a screenshot showing a lot of different information, You can see from the scores and benchmarks that This PC is still running FAST, very fast.
Infact, those Windows Experience Index scores are higher than most computers you get now a days

Any more information, just ask!

 

[LPCTech]

Im currently typing this on a Dell Inspiron 1720.

Intel core2duo T8100 2.1Ghz
6GB of ram YOU CAN PUT 6 in here, not just 4. 2 under the keyboard 4 in the back fully available. DDR2
Had 300GB HDD, now has 240GB SSD
there is no discrete graphics its using the GM965 chipset.
Running windows 8.1 Pro

Runs great, in fact it runs better than an HP dv7 1285 that I also have,
with a core2duo T8600 2.4Ghz 6GB ram 500GB hdd AND nVidia 9600 gt 512mb
with win 7.

Win 8 really works well if you get past the UI(classic shell). Perks up an old laptop...and you know...ssd.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Where did you find video drivers for the 965 chipset for Windows 8.1?

 

[LPCTech]

I dont recall having to install video drivers when I put in win 8.1, I had been using the pc to linux distro hop (kali,mint,LXLE, etc) Then a friend gave me a win 8.1 pro retail install disc unopened cuz they got it as a gift and wanted to stay with 7 die hard style.
I did have to install a touchpad driver(just so I could disable it)
And drivers for the ricoh multi card reader.

I think with both I used the vista versions and installed them in compatibility mode, or perhaps that didnt work and I found some win 7 HP drivers for the same components and installed that. I forget lol.

The Display Adapter in my device mgr says:

"Intel mobile(R) 965 Express Chipset Family (Microsoft Corporation - WDDM 1.1)"

 

[Dougrrr]

SSD, 5 gb ram, Linux Mint 18.3

By a bit of luck I "inherited" my wife's old Dell 1720. Years ago, I installed a new keyboard for it at her request. But then she went and bought a new Dell laptop. So, it sat in the closet gathering dust.

Long story, I happened to have a spare 480 gb Crucial SSD I slipped into the extra drive bay. I installed Linux Mint 18.3 on the SSD. This was a huge improvement!!! But the memory was only 2 gb. After a lot of research I realized I could indeed upgrade the ram to a maximum of 6 gb. I ordered a 4 gb module and popped it in the slot on the bottom. Added to the 1gb module under the keyboard, it now has 5 gb. With that much ram, I was able to turn off the Linux swap file. For a duo core cpu at 1.8 ghz, the computer runs smooth as silk and is very snappy!! I have a spare 2.1 ghz cpu I may add later, but I don't relish taking the laptop completely apart to do that.

This laptop is now worth using. I love watching Netflix on the 17 inch screen.