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Notebook Upgrades: Hacking your Dell/Compaq/Toshiba

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the who-even-knew dept.

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."

1 of 256 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Simplest way to extend life of notebook... by djmurdoch · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Linux on my Libretto subnotebook is a lot slower than the original OS (Win95), because KDE uses more memory and all I've got is 32 MB. Sure, I could run it in console mode, but I like a GUI. Linux programs also seem to be less careful about making sure things fit on the little 640x480 screen.

    I imagine any flavour of NT on this machine would be even worse than KDE. But Win95 works, so why change?

    To add to the original discussion: replacing the hard drive on a Libretto is very easy and very worthwhile. For about $200 you can upgrade from the original 1.6GB disk to a 20GB disk. You have to watch out because the BIOS was written for 8GB max and writes the hibernation information at the 8GB limit, but disk overlays and careful partitioning solve that. Physical installation is a breeze: unscrew a cover, slip out the old drive, slip in the new one.

    I got my disk upgrade from WEESCO; they were helpful and quick.