Thinking about buying a laptop and upgrading it.

[leglez]

HP Pavilion ZE5615SR Notebook PC
US Product number DS538U#ABA
Microprocessor Intel Pentium 4 processor, 2.66 GHz
Microprocessor cache 512 KB (L2 cache)
Memory 256 MB DDR SDRAM (1 x 256 MB) at 266 MHz
Memory max 1024 MB DDR SDRAM (2 x 512 MB)
Video graphics ATI MOBILITY RADEON 4X AGP and 3D architecture
Video memory 64 MB DDR (shared)
Hard drive 40 GB enhanced-IDE hard disk drive (4200 rpm)
Diskette drive External USB floppy drive available for customers (sold separately)
Multimedia drive DVD-ROM/CD-RW Combo drive
Display 15.0-inch XGA TFT (1024 x 768) display
Fax/modem Integrated v.90/v.92 56 KB modem (RJ-11 connector)
Network card Integrated 10/100BASE-T Ethernet LAN (RJ-45 connector)
Wireless connectivity 54g Integrated 802.11 b/g Capable Wireless LAN
Sound 16-bit Sound Blaster Pro-compatible audio; internal Altec Lansing speakers; AC audio link: volume control buttons and mute button
Keyboard 101-key compatible US keyboard
Pointing device Touch Pad with On/Off button and dedicated vertical Scroll Up/Down pad
PC card slots 1 Type I/II 16-bit with support and 32-bit card bus
External ports 3 Universal Serial Bus (USB) 2.0
1 Parallel SPP/ECP standard interface
PS/2 keyboard/mouse
1 headphone-out; 1 microphone-in
1 VGA (15-pin)
1 TV-Out (S-video)
1 RJ-11 (modem)
1 RJ -45 (LAN)

I am thinking about buying that for $280. If I buy it is it just as easy to install new RAM, and HDDs as it is a desktop? I would want to upgrade the RAM to at least 512MBs and possibly 1GB. I would also want to upgrade the HDD to 100GBs possibly more. And I would want a DVD Burner. Also how much do batteries cost because the battery on this one only lasts ~15 minutes

 

[alimoalem]

i would check to see if the optical drive (CD-burner) is replacable. i think it needs a modular bay for that...

as for ram and hdd, it's easy so don't worry about that.

i think a battery's going to run you about $100, but that's just my guess. getting one from hp would be best.

what will you be using this for?

 

[corkyg]

I note that the CPU is a P4, non-mobile. These are real battery hogs and heat generators.

 

[leglez]

I would just be using it on WiFi as an extra computer at my house. I also would be taking it on trips with me to watch movies and/or music. I might do some coding but it would be lite html/css. I would also be taking it to my school to work on web sites in my IHT class. So it needs to be able to do some multimedia, and coding, and needs to be able to run dreamweaver, and maybe photoshop.

Here are the upgrades I was thinking about if I bought it.

HDD: Samsung 120GB - $81.99

I am not really sure what type of RAM I would need some can someone point me to a 1GB (2x512MB) sticks that would be compatible.

I decided I dont need a DVD Burner on it since I have one in my desktop.

 

[IlllI]

i dont understand why you would want to do this.

total cost of buying the old laptop + buying upgrades = just about the cost of buying a new laptop.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: clandren
i dont understand why you would want to do this.

total cost of buying the old laptop + buying upgrades = just about the cost of buying a new laptop.

Those were my thoughts also.

$280 notebook
$100 RAM
$80 HDD
$100 battery

=$560

HP has a decent new setup for $110 more at $670 - I just did a quick search and didn't even look up deals.

WinXP Home
Celeron M 1.6GHz (less power hungry than P4, at least as much performance)
15.4" widescreen (better for movies - trust me)
GMA950 graphics (probably better than the old Radeon Mobility)
1GB dual channel DDR2
100GB HDD (120GB add $50 << too much IMO)
DVD/CDRW
wireless
12 cell battery (upgraded from stock 6 cell for much better runtime)
Works/Money software (easy to delete )
earphones, remote control
1 year warranty which may be worth something

This would be better in most cases than the old system upgraded, for a bit more. Only thing the old system would have on this after upgrades is 20GB more HDD space.

Oh yeah, for another $60 you can get a Core Solo CPU that has SpeedStep. Use software to force CPU to run at lowest speed and even lower voltage for many hours of runtime. My Dothan Pentium M can get 4+ hours of light usage (web browsing, movies, no gaming) on battery using a 9 cell battery and CrystalCPU software.

I've worked with some Dell Inspiron... forgot what, but a 9000 or 9300 or something like that, several years ago. They came with Pentium 4 desktop chips and even brand new and on a fresh charge, they were hard pressed to last even an hour on battery just idling. That's not even enough to watch a movie.

 

[leglez]

I am not really wanting to buy a brand new laptop since it will be more expensive and i would rather save money for a new Desktop rather than a laptop. Is this a better deal:

Dell Dimension E510/5150 ( 7 months old )
Pentium D 2.8 Ghz Dual Core
1 GHz DDR2 Ram (upgraded from 512 mb)
Nvidia 7300LE (upgraded from X300)
80 GB WD SATA2 HD

$375

I could wait for HDD prices to come down a bit more and then get a 120GB or 200GB

 

[IlllI]

thats a good suggestion Zap. having a warranty is always a good thing

i'm willing to bet though that in a couple more weeks we might start seeing even more deals and promotions due to vista coming out. thats my guess anyway

 

[cheesehead]

Having owned multiple laptops, I strongly reccomend installing the memory yourself. You can save hundreds of dollars, and your RAM will have a much longer warranty than the laptop itself.

For all four of the laptop's I've owned, I have done exactly this, and it always works out just fine.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: leglez
I am not really wanting to buy a brand new laptop since it will be more expensive and i would rather save money

I understand that you want to save money, but would you rather pay more money for something that does what you want, or save money but end up with something that doesn't do what you want? Even the second notebook you listed will not have enough battery life to watch a single movie.

 

[IlllI]

Originally posted by: Zap

I understand that you want to save money, but would you rather pay more money for something that does what you want, or save money but end up with something that doesn't do what you want? Even the second notebook you listed will not have enough battery life to watch a single movie.

well that makes perfect sense to me.

 

[alimoalem]

Originally posted by: Zap

Originally posted by: leglez
I am not really wanting to buy a brand new laptop since it will be more expensive and i would rather save money

I understand that you want to save money, but would you rather pay more money for something that does what you want, or save money but end up with something that doesn't do what you want? Even the second notebook you listed will not have enough battery life to watch a single movie.

the second one was a desktop

but i agree