Upgrading Laptops

[jpk]

I'm thinking about getting a laptop to replace my aging Dell C610. I'm looking to get something faster as well as something more sturdy. Besides HD's and memory can lappy's be upgraded with newer mobo's and CPU's? What about video? Are you stuck pretty much with what you buy and have to replace the entire unit to upgrade? I know with my old Dell I can upgrade the CPU but the entire system is so slow even that won't get the speed up to where I would like. Thanks for your info.

 

[SuperNaruto]

video - yes, you are stuck.. some dell has different vid card that can upgrade but its only within the same platform... you can't upgrade most of the time..

 

[jpk]

That's what I thought. Thanks for your input....

 

[Nocturnal]

Like someone mentioned, it depends on if your motherboard has onboard video or not. CPU, memory and hard drive can be upgraded on most normal laptops. There are specific CPUs though that you need to find in order to upgrade the processor in laptops.

 

[jpk]

Thanks for your info. Since I'm thinking about replacing my current lappy, what mobile CPU would be fastest right now? There are so many designations now it's hard to keep up. I've been looking at lappys that have either the Celeron M or Core duo, possibly an A64 X2 Turion. I think I've read that Celeron's use batteries faster than the CD's. What about the AMD CPU? Also, at equivilant speeds would the Celly and CD's perform the same or would the CD be faster due to the more recent design. I would like to use it for light gaming when I'm on the road. Thanks once again for your help.

 

[Nocturnal]

Depends on what your budget is. I'd go with a Dell with a C2D. I think the highest C2D mobile chip they offer is a 2.0GHz. I do believe the C2D will be much quicker than the equivalent speed Celerons.

 

[alzan]

Even for light gaming you should also look into the wide screen laptops; one that has a 9 cell battery pack would nice as well. I believe the Inspiron XPS series has some good offerings.

alzan

 

[0roo0roo]

laptops ..not great values. if you are poor and must have one, get warrantee, or get cheap system as suppliment to desktop. upgrading/replacing broken stuff is highly limited/expensive on a laptop.
if your budget is decent then buy away, its essentially disposable then..as they are really intended.

buy what you need now, and expect to upgrade nothing more than memory in the future.

c2d intel is leading at the moment for laptops. intel tends to do better in laptop speed/efficiency. sometimes for the very cheapest laptops amd has an edge, but they tend to be junkers.


nicer small form factor laptops definetly cannot be upgraded. bigger ones with made from common chassis maybe upgradable to a certain extent. look up guides on building your own laptop to see.

 

[corkyg]

Laptops are basically not very upgradeable when it comes to video and CPU. They really are a luxury item, and a working tool for business travelers. They have lately found favor with college students because of their portability. But, they are not as good an investment as the desktops we are used to.

I have two desktops and a laptop. The laptop is only used for travel, and it has a definite role to play in that venue.

I replace my laptop about every 3-4 years. That is what "upgrade" signifies. It's a business expense so I don['t worry too much about cost.