Two old laptops...which would be best for Windows 10?

[TubeTote]

Hello all, I am rebuilding my old desktop and that is taking up all of my current computer budget. I am also in need of a laptop that can run 10, but my demands are pretty minimal...generally internet browsing, MS office, hopefully streaming video. I have two older laptops and would like to install 10 on one of them if possible. First option is a Toshiba Satellite L350-S5970. The machine came with 32 bit Vista. It has a Centrino core 2 duo T6400 processor at 2 GHz, 3 GB DDR2, mobile GM45 express chipset. The second option is an Asus EEE PC 1201N. It came with 32 bit 7. It has an Atom 330 at 1.6 GHz, 4 GB DDR2 (upgrade), and NVidea ION. Full specs are available here:

Toshiba: https://support.dynabook.com/support/modelHome?freeText=2350420

Asus: https://www.cnet.com/products/asus-...ws-7-home-premium-2-gb-ram-250-gb-hdd-series/

I have an SSD to replace the drive in whichever machine is chosen. Don't know that I can upgrade anything else, but could maybe look into a slight overclock of the CPU(?).

I know that neither of these are spectacular choices but wondering which would be my best choice for Windows 10 until I can afford something better. Would like to load XP on the other machine to play old games and for nostalgia (it obviously won't be used online).

Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

 

[Shmee]

The Toshiba with the core 2 duo should be faster. And an SSD will help that. The Toshiba should also be easier to upgrade and work on, if memory serves about the netbooks.
That said I would not run Windows on either one. I would run a light Linux distro, like Lubuntu or something. It will be faster than win 10, more secure in general than Windows, and it will be free. Since your usage requirements on it would be minimal, this would work fine.

 

[TubeTote]

I appreciate the reply. Of the two machines, the Toshiba generally runs better...in fact, the Asus has been quite the disappointment overall. I even put an SSD in it and it still runs like poop. It is actually newer though, so I thought maybe it might be the better choice for 10.

On that note, I have no experience with other OS's. Some people outside of the forum have mentioned Linux to me in the past. Sorry for the newbie questions, but can it run regular windows programs such as office, firefox, tor, webroot, winamp, expressvpn and the like? I also need lockdown browser for college credits I am taking. Would I need any special knowledge to run it?

Thank you for the information, it is very helpful.

 

[Shmee]

Most distros have their own built in office suite, as well as firefox. I am not sure about the other programs, but there may be a linux version/alternative, and then there is also wine you could try. Perhaps ask the *nix experts for further advice in the open source forum.

 

[WelshBloke]

You could probably run chrome OS on them fairly well. That would work for browsing and video.
You'd have to use the online MS office or Google docs though, but that should be OK unless you are doing some heavy office stuff.

Cloudready (chromeOS) link...

Redirecting

 

[JWade]

the t6400 is 35w and 800mhz bus, the laptop will take 1066mhz bus socket p processors. not sure if you want to spend the money to upgrade it, but for about $20 you can upgrade it to a 2.53ghz dual core. T9300/T9400/

 

[TubeTote]

the t6400 is 35w and 800mhz bus, the laptop will take 1066mhz bus socket p processors. not sure if you want to spend the money to upgrade it, but for about $20 you can upgrade it to a 2.53ghz dual core. T9300/T9400/

Hmmm...that is an interesting idea, regardless of what OS I end up running. I have never gone so far to upgrade a laptop but I did find this article on the subject with a similar model, and it looks a bit involved, but fun and educational:

https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Toshiba+Satellite+L305-S5946+Processor+Replacement/14194

After checking out some specs on the Intel website I noticed that the T9300 is at 800mhz and the T9400 is at 1066mhz. My question is, would there be any advantage or disadvantage to the 1066mhz with the memory at 800mhz? I can't quite remember how that works.

I also noticed that the T9600 is considerably faster at 2.8ghz and also uses the same socket and 35W...but the VID voltage range is different than the 9300/9400/6400. I am wondering if that is of concern.

Last thing that I am curious about are temperatures...it looks like 105 C is the maximum junction temp allowed across all of the discussed processors, but it would seem that the faster processors would generate more heat. I don't want to go through all of the work just to fry the machine. Any thoughts regarding the temperature concerns?

With a processor upgrade, the SSD upgrade, and I already upgraded the memory to 4GB (simply swapped the memory from the Asus)...that actually might make it a worthwhile older laptop.

Thanks for the input.

 

[TubeTote]

Hi all,

I noticed that I can purchase a T9300 for about $10 on eBay...so I am really considering doing this! Anybody have any input regarding my previous post?

Thanks for your help!

 

[TubeTote]

So, I'm still waiting to build my desktop (the GPU that has not yet arrived).

I want a project and think I will be rebuilding the previously mentioned Toshiba laptop. Here are my ideas for the rebuild:

Considering replacing the current T6400 with a T9900. According to the specs, the T9900 runs at 3.06 GHz (compared to the current 2 GHz). The T9900 offers a 6 MB cache compared to the current 2 MB. Also, the power requirement of 35W is the same for both processors. The VID is slightly different but very close. I can't see any reason that this upgrade would be an issue. While I am at it, I also intend to replace the CPU fan since I will have the whole thing apart anyway.

Since the T9900 has a 1066 MHz bus, was hoping to find DDR2 PC-8500 ram for the upgrade...but every time that I find it online it says that the ram is DDR3??? I'm confused about this, and wondering if there is any advantage to PC-8500 compared to just sticking with PC-6400 running at 800 MHz. I am not sure if the motherboard will accept DDR3 and can't find any good information regarding that. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Finally, I intend to replace the current HD with an SSD that I have sitting around doing nothing. It is older but should still outperform what is currently in the machine.

I would think that these 3 upgrades would be a fun experiment to see how far I can push an otherwise rather useless laptop.

Any ideas or suggestions would be very appreciated before I order the parts (none of which are expensive).

 

[VirtualLarry]

That said I would not run Windows on either one. I would run a light Linux distro

This. Both of those "laptop" choice in the OP to run Win10 on are miserable. You will most def. get a very lousy experience, if it is even usable at all, which I doubt.

Get a part-time job somewhere, and spend $129 on a Walmart EVOO Win10 laptop special.

Edit: Or better yet, spend $230-250 on an HP or Lenovo, with an AMD Athlon 3020e (2C/2T) or 3050e (2C/4T), with 4GB of RAM (likely non-upgradable) and 64GB eMMC or possibly a 128GB actual SSD, depending on model. I picked one of those up (the Lenovo) @ Newegg some few months back for like $239, and I love it! It came with a 1080P screen, but since it's an AMD DDR4-using APU, I can enable VSR in the drivers, and set it to 4K UHD resolution for the Windows Desktop. (Using 125% resolution scale.) It's amazing. The only downside is the 4GB of DDR4 RAM, which is soldered. I don't know if it is dual-channel or not. It could be.

 

[VirtualLarry]

the t6400 is 35w and 800mhz bus, the laptop will take 1066mhz bus socket p processors. not sure if you want to spend the money to upgrade it, but for about $20 you can upgrade it to a 2.53ghz dual core. T9300/T9400/

That might make the Toshiba passible.

 

[TubeTote]

Thanks for the responses, VirtualLarry

In my previous post I mentioned upgrading to a T9900, well beyond the T9300. I have not commited to using Windows 10 on the rebuild; that is what I initially posted because that was the original inquiry. I know I could buy another machine but I have an interest in using older tech (to a point, at least) rather than throwing it in a landfill. Just sort of a hobby of mine, and sometimes rewarding.

 

[VirtualLarry]

but I have an interest in using older tech (to a point, at least) rather than throwing it in a landfill. Just sort of a hobby of mine, and sometimes rewarding.

That CAN be rewarding, but it is often difficult or not worth the money to do with laptops.

I would get the T9300 for $10 and call it a day.