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Notebook Upgrades: Hacking your Dell/Compaq/Toshiba
David Steele writes "Ever wondered what you could do to prolong the life of your notebook? Or upgrade it to meet today's standards? Or maybe you want to turn your mid-range notebook into a high-end model? Hardware Analysis has an article up that takes a a closer look at the available options."
Here is where one of the vitures of Mac PowerBooks comes through -- Upgradeability.
The examples abound: before I retired it, my old 1400CS had been upgraded from it's stock 117mhz 603e CPU to a 366 G3, and G4 upgrades are nearly availble for the 'Wallstreet' Line, that debued with 233 mhz 7400 CPUs.
The upgradeability is probably not due to the hardware as much as the scope; there are a million-and-one difference makes of x86 notebooks, while Apple is the only real manufacturer of mobile PowerPC hardware, so hardware developers spend a lot more time on one specific model, developing upgrades. If memory serves, this began with the PB 520 in 1993 which started out with a 25mhz 68040 and can be taken all the way up to a 183mhz 604e.
Of course, Powerbooks can't run Windows Natively, and some people still don't think that the MacOS is a *real* OS, even though the only two OS options you have for a Powerbook are MacOS and Linux.
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Hilary Rosen's speech was about her love of money and her desire to roll around naked in a pile of money.
The most easily upgradable laptop I have ever run across is a friend's CTX EzBook somethingerother that had a desktop - yes, desktop - pentium processor in it. Just pop that little thing out and stick a new one in and boom: an instantly upgraded laptop. Of course, it ran hot as could be and sucked batteries like nothing else, but I imagine it was cheap to produce!
Posted from the wireless couch.
From what I've read on the Dell forums (I have the I8k too), you CAN upgrade from an ATI to NVidia GeForce Go, by replacing the video card in the socket. Several people have reported successfully upgrading, although it does void your warranty. I believe the video chip is for sale, in the refurbished sales category, if I remember correctly.
-Maher-
You can get the NVidia GeForce2Go video card and replace it in the socket but there are numerous problems concerning power since the Nvidia card uses a little more juice than the ATI cards.
I reciently upgraded my Vaio 505VE laptop. It was not the most easy thing in the world, but possible.
Here are the things you need to know about:
If you have fried the laptop power supply cord and need a replacement, Targus makes a laptop power supply replacement. The web page at http://www.targus.com/ does *not* list the plug end you will need for the 505VE. (It is weird and non-standard.) The plug number you will need to order is number 62. It costs as much as Sony's charger, but has much more use since you can use it with all sorts of other devices.
Memory replacement:
Kingston makes a memory module for the 505VE that is much less than what Sony charges. They also have a lifetime waranty. Buy the 64 meg module. Two 32 meg modules do not equal one 64 meg module. Each is actually two weird chip-like things. If you get the 32 meg set hoping to just get another 32 meg later, you will find that does not work and you will have wasted your money. You can only expand the 505VE to 128 megs.
To open the 505VE, turn the laptop over and remove the screws with an arrow AND a dot next to them. Make sure you do not lose the screws. (A saki cup or other small cup is helpful.) Turn over the lattop and carefully remove the keyboard. It should slide up and out. Remove the screws under the metal plate on the left. The modules plug in under that plate. Carefully put everything back together and it should work.
Replacing the hard drive:
You can upgrade the hard drive. (Sony's web page says you cannot.) Good luck finding one that is bigger though. the 505VE uses a Toshiba 8.45mm laptop drive. It is the thinnest laptop drive made, other than the IBM microdrive. (Which is REALLY tiny.) I have heard that you can use a 9.5mm, but I have never tried it. Toshiba has an 8.1 gig drive that size. The specs are only listed on their Japanese web pages, not on the American. The only company I could find that had one was Atlantic ComputerTech in Brooklyn NY. (I am not certain of the model number. it is in my laptop.)
Getyting the drive in your laptop requires a great deal of care and patience. You will need to remove all of the screws out of the back of the laptop. You then need to remove the keyboard and remove more screws. You then can pry the laptop housing apart at the bottom by about one inch. You need to remove a couple of screws holing the drive into place and carefully unplug it. be careful as there is a fragile cable that connects to the power switch. Once the drive is removed, you can unscrew it from the metal mounting plate and put in the new drive. Put everything back together.
Installing Linux on the 505VE:
You can only boot off the CD-ROM if you are using a Sony CD-ROM drive. (And it is more expensive than the normal drive.) After you boot off the disk, when you get a boot prompt (under Redhat it will ask if you want expert, text or graphical install), type "linux ide=0x180". This give it the non-standard i/o port location of the cd-rom drive. If you do not do this, the drive will stop working when it tries to figure out what ide devices you have.
Hopefully that will help. The 505VE is a nice laptop. Battery life sucks. Sony reams you on every part you have to buy seperatly. Other than that it has been a good laptop.
"Trademarks are the heraldry of the new feudalism."
You can buy the rubberized grit in large rolls at your local Home Depot. Cut a single piece to size, remove adhesive, stick it on.
Or, you can get it in spray-cans - takes a lot more work to prep the case for application, but it'll be a nicer job.
; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
I recently upgraded my PowerBook G3-500 with a 30 gb hard disk and 640 meg of ram (that's 256 meg for OSX, 256 for Classic and 128 mb for virtual PC, for the "good lord thats a lot of ram" people amongst you). It cost me around $280, which is substantially less than the $2400 a nice new g4 powerbook with loads of ram would have run me. Furthurmore, I fetched $100 for my old 12 gigger.
Laptops get hard drives which are substantially slower than desktops and generally need more (i don't like to carry about my volumes of CDs when I'm on the road). A lot of memory allows you to avoid hyper slow virtual ram, which means less time spent opening programs (you just leave them open). OSX seems substantially more stable with > 256 meg of ram...never panics when i remove my wireless card.
How easy was it? took me an hour, all told, and I got very nice detailed directions in quicktime form from apple's knowledge base.
Hey freaks: now you're ju
It's possible. We dismantled a laptop at our facility here because of (what we thought was) a dead screen. The only two leads coming from the LCD were for power and VGA. Power was easy enough to splice in, but the VGA cable was a ribbon cable, as I imagine most are. It was all a task of trial and error, figuring out which trace matched to which pin on a standard 15 pin D-shell connector.
If you're lucky, or know people, you can sometimes find white papers or tech-specs on those "pinouts". I've only done it once, but I bet there's a lot of similarity within brands or even in laptops in general. If I can find my notes from back then I'll post the process we used to attatch the ribbon to the D-shell.
I'm against picketing, but I don't know how to show it.
Panasonic's Toughbooks claim (and look) to be pretty tough. I'm not sure if they're worth the expense for your dad though. There are a few less-rugged options that I've heard of, but I don't have the links handy. Check /.'s archive, I think there's something recently about them.
Yes! That guy!
it appears that MOST of this laptop can be upgraded. I saw an ebay ad talking about upgrading the video "card" and it had a link to the Dell site, which I listed above.
I have not tried this myself, but am very anxious to upgrade my cpu, once I can find one that is faster than what I currently have; fast enough to justify the risk of opening my laptop, that is.
--
"It is now safe to switch off your computer."
I have a Compaq Presario 1685 which originally came with 380Mhz K6-2, 64MB RAM, 4.3GB Fujitsu HDD.
- 16 94/index.html
L F5 7&ic=FUJMHM2200AT
6 94/index.html for removal sequence
1) I upgraded it to 128MB after buying 64MB from http://www.crucial.com(anyone can do it)
2) Then upgraded the processor with a 450MHz K6-3+. I run it at 500Mhz with some DIP switch settings which can be found at
http://www.mgrudkin.clara.net and
http://www5.compaq.com/athome/support/msgs/1683
Got the processor from www.axiontech.com for $54. Now it's probably available in ebay. Go to http://www.amdzone.com forum (K6 group)to see availability.
3) Recently I upgraded the HDD with a 20GB Fujitsu drive
http://www.edgemicro.com/item.asp?cartID=127AWU
Any standard 9.5mm HDD will work. I got Fujitsu, because I have read reviews that it's quiter than IBM. So far it's running very good with 3 OS (WinME, XP RC2, Mandarke 7.1)
Refer http://www5.compaq.com/athome/support/msgs/1683-1
4) I tried to replace the DVD-ROM (Toshiba SD-C2202 4X, firmware 1021) with a Toshiba SD-C2202(newer firmware 1327 - got it from ebay), but failed. So running the old drives. The BIOS didn't detect the new drive at all. This drive doesn't have any jumper select or anything. The old drive runs fine in secondary master position. Don't know whether the new drive firmware (may be ide position is hardwired in firmware) is conflicting with my config.
Disregarding the warranty, your Inspiron 8000 is pin compatible with a GeForce2Go chip. You can buy them from Dell spare parts, although they will not do the installation nor support you afterwards. The option is there, though. The CPU's are socketed too.
The link is slashdotted so I couldn't read the story. But here's so 2c I want to give for anyone interested in changing the harddrive for the thinkpads. (I have a i series).
To open the laptop, do not unscrew the screws from the bottom. Instead you have to lift the keyboard (and mouse buttons) out. All the goodies, including your harddrive, are hidden underneath your keyboard. Try poking around to see where the keyboard is screwed down. For me, it's underneath the "i series" panel below the keyboard. You'll need a flat head screw driver or any flat headed object to help lift the panel and the keyboard out since they are clicked into the laptop.
Good luck upgrading.
We recently purchased two laptops - one was Dell, the other was a Toshiba Satellite Pro...
The Toshiba power supply broke and upon getting it fixed, the Toshiba rep. told us that we had definitely voided the warranty because we had installed Win 2K over the top of Win 98.
The Dell guy told us we most definitely had voided the warranty on the Dell laptop because we had upgraded the RAM from 128Mb to 256Mb...
As niether modification had anything to do with their respective problems, we told both companies that they'd most definitely end up in court if we had to pay to get them fixed (both were ~2 weeks old), and the issues were resolved... but not without a lot of pain.
'sapientia potestas est'
Pull off the bezel and get the manufacturer's part number. Most LCDs I've seen are made by Sharp, IBM, or Fujitsu. I'm sure there are others, but the bulk of them are sourced from one of the main suppliers. ONce you get the REAL part number you can punch it into google or a similar engine...I found a replacement screen for one of mine online for $120 plus shipping...better than the $900 that Hitachi wanted.
Writers imply. Readers infer.
If you can remember where all the screws go you can take your box down to the major components.
Four types of screws to watch for...long thin ones that hold the screen to the base, short skinny ones that hold the plastic parts together, short wide ones that hold the keyboard and pointing device down, itty bitty ones that hold the CPU and fan together. There might be more. If so, remember what they do and keep 'em in a different pile.
Disconnect all cords, batteries, drives, etc. If it's removeable then remove it.
Pull off all visible rubber covers. You will probably find two on the front bezel of the LCD, maybe other places. Use a dental pick or needle, stab the rubber, pop 'em out. Remove all screws, making note of the function and position of each. Gently pry the shall open. Watch for hidden screws, interlocking plastic tabs, cables, etc. If something isn't releasing, stop! Rethink what you are trying to accomplish. Look for obstacles. Once you figure it out, fix it and continue.
Now that the plastic is off find, remove the keyboard and examine the laout of the components. The CPU, HDD, RAM, BIOS, CMOS battery, ports, and soundcard are all easy to identify. Determine if you have an upper board. Likely this is a multifunction board that includes the video processor. It may be upgradeable. Look at the ACTUAL manufacturer of the TFT. Note the part and serial number.
With this information you can go bargain hunting...$1000 range screens can be found for $100 and up online, happy hunting.
Writers imply. Readers infer.
i wish i ran into people that thought such hardware was worthless or near worthless in real life.. as a college student i could really use a decent laptop.. esp considering your worthless laptop is about as good as my everyday desktop computer..
Sony Vaio notebooks are really neat, especially the super-slim ones.
Newer models can receive a landing station, with a DVD/CD burner, and everything you need to make it a full featured computer.
In all Vaios, upgrading the memory is trivial, because the slot can be easily accessed by removing some screws. This operation is also documented by Sony.
And as we're talking about memory, the Memory Stick cards are also excellent to store private data like SSH keys. They can be used in any operating system, because they are seen as regular drives, FAT-formatted. Plug the card, mount it, and it works. Excellent.
But some times ago, I decided to upgrade the internal hard drive. First surprise : on the Sony web site, Sony says that this operation is impossible. Damn! Changing the hard drive, impossible? What the hell?
In fact, it's possible, but it's a very delicate operation. I did it on a PCG Z600 RE laptop. First, you have to remove all screws. Easy. Then, you have to remove the plastic protections on the left and on the right of the screen (at the extremity of the power supply) . It's hard to do without breaking them. Moreover the speakers are at the same place, and they are very fragile. So you have to remove the plastic protection with extreme care to avoid ripping the speakers.
Finally, you can remove the keyboard, to discover new screws that have to be removed. Once removed, you can lift the mainboard and.... too late! The mainboard and the base of the notebook case are linked by tiny ribbon cables. If you lift the mainboard too much, these ribbon cables are going out, and plugging them back is very difficult. So, lift the mainboard, but carefully.
The hard disk is screwed in a metallic slot. But to remove it you have to remove the screws. 4 screws, 2 easily accessible (on the front), 2 difficult to unscrew (on the back) . Use a screwdriver that attracts metal, to avoid losing screws. And have someone help you to lift the mainboard while you are unscrewing the drive.
It took me 4 hours to change the drive. So it's not impossible as sony states, but it's long and stressing.
For everything else, I enjoy this laptop a lot. BeOS, QNX, OpenBSD, Linux and Windows installs properly on it. The "jog dial" rotative button is recognized on Linux, hibernation works with all operating systems, the built-in network card is a standard EEPRO 100 chipset (so no compatibility problem), and I've no problem with the sound chip, either.
{{.sig}}
We had those when I was in the Marines. They really sucked. Very slow, poor power managemnet, the docking stations didn't fit quite right, CD-ROM drives that wouldn't tolerate ANY scratches, etc. Overall, very poor quality.
They did have a standard 2.5" harddrive that was encased in this weird gel. The drives were very shock-proof.
Try using Blackbox. It uses very little memory and can be prettied up pretty good if you want. I use it on all low mem computers when KDE just crawls.
here
and here
These links all are by other users who installed linux on the TP701 laptops.