What can be upgraded in a Fragbox?

[EQTitan]

I'm looking to trade my laptop for a mini PC called a FragBox by Falcon Northwest. Before I do I want to know what part can be upgraded if any from it's stock state. Also if you could please include the spec's as Falcon NW doesn't really have a spec sheet.

Include things like bus speed of the memory slots, I am tech. literate so please be as descriptive as possible, let me know if you think it's a fair trade or if I should ask for some cash as well.

My laptop:

Compaq Presario 2570us laptop *Still under warranty*
Condition - Excellent

PICS :
Front
CDRW/DVD
Ports
Battery Life

• Pentium 4 - 2.4ghz processor
• 768mb memory
• DVD/CDRW
• 15" monitor {no dead pixels excellent condition}
• 128mb shared ATI Mobile Radeon video
• S-video
• LPT port
• 3 USB ports
• 1 Type II PCMCIA slot
• Wifi 802.11g maxperformance
• Floppy
• 65khw battery (3.0 hours) holds full charge
• AC adaptor
• Norton Antivirus
• Windows XP Professional

His FragBox:

Spec's of fragbox
-----------------
# Intel®Pentium®4 2.66GHz 533MHz Front Side Bus Processor - Intel®i845 Chipset
# 80 GB Hard Drive, 7200 RPM
# 512MB DDR Memory - Upgrades to 1024MB Available
# nVidia GeForceFX 5600 Ultra 128MB Graphics Card
# 16X Black DVD-Rom
# 1.44MB Black Floppy Drive
# Intel USB 2.0 controller 4 Ports
# 1394a Firewire controller with 3 Ports
# 10/100 Network Interface Port
# Digital & Analog 6-Channel Sound
# Microsoft Windows XP Home
# nVidia NVDVD Dolby Digital DVD software
# Emergency System Recovery DVD

Features
-----------------
# Clear Side Panels
# Upfront Firewire (1394) port
# 2 Upfront USB ports
# Upfront speaker connections
# Upfront microphone connection
# Blue interior lighting
# 1 Available PCI expansion slot
# Digital audio (optical) in & outs
# Only 9.5"(H) x 8.3"(W) x 12"(D)
# Weighs only 14 pounds!
-----------------
For more info on the fragbox see falcon northwest's website:
Fragbox

 

[Lord Evermore]

Is the FragBox Upgradeable?
Not much. FragBox isn't designed to replace a tower system for enthusiasts. It's quite powerful, but it's not going to be the only PC for most people.

At best, you might have a free PCI slot. Since it's a i845 533MHz P4 bus, and since the Pro version specifies 400MHz, you're probably stuck with 333MHz memory, single channel. I presume it's at least the 845PE chipset. It could be the 845E, which would be only 266MHz memory.

PCGamer seems to have the most detailed information. It uses an FIC mainboard, and PC2700 memory (so most likely cannot support PC3200 officially). It does apparently only have one memory slot used if you get the 512MB version, so you could add more memory cheaply instead of having to pay Falcon's prices.

Upgrading the CPU would probably be more expense than it's worth, but the board probably can support faster speeds at least with a new BIOS.

The laptop on the other hand: 266MHz memory, really only 512MB system memory since the Radeon uses 128MB. The mobility radeon is the M6, released around the time of the Geforce2GO.

You'll obviously get better performance from the Fragbox, quite a bit better. But you'll also need to factor in the cost of the display, keyboard, mouse, speakers and anything else you need, including all the software that Falcon doesn't provide (assuming you really like MSWorks and MSMoney).

The laptop is apparently selling for under 1000 dollars now. Considering the Fragbox would cost about 1600 minimum after you buy all the components, I'd say YOU should be forking over some cash along with the laptop.

 

[EQTitan]

It's just the fragbox as I already have all the extras sitting around. Monitor, mouse, keyboard, etc.....the Fragbox only comes with the promise of the person covering a warranty for 1 year. The laptop comes with manufactures warranty.

Basically just wondering if this would be a good trade, as I am looking for a gaming system. Or should I just try and sell/trade the laptop for a custom (mid range gamer) or partial syste trade? I was leary of the upgraded ability of the Fragbox for future needs.

I want to play UT2K4, World of warcraft (yes beta), and City of Heros...

Again thanks

 

[nineball9]

Call Falcon! Unlike other PC vendors, you won't sit on hold. You don't have to own the device before they will answer questions. They will spend as much time on the phone helping you decide and explaining options and configurations you want. Moreover, they won't try to sell you what you don't need or want.

Falcon's sales support staff is more knowledgeable than most company's tech support staffs.

I have a Mach V which has more options than their Fragbox, but I found their sales support staff very helpful.

Good luck!