XPS M1330 upgrade

sternn

Im fairly uninformed when it comes to upgrading computers. Im looking to upgrade my XPS M1330 laptop. It currently has 2GB memory, 120GB hardrive, 1.5GHz processor (duo) and running vista.

I am thinking of upgrading the memory to 3/4 gb's, but I am wondering is there much point? Will there be much of a difference in speed?

Then my next question would be, how to I find memory that is compatable to my laptop? I dont want to buy directly from dell as im sure I can find cheaper around.

sternn

I have been googling, and these are some of the ones I have come up with:

http://cgi.ebay.ie/4-GB-MEMORY-FOR-DELL-XPS-M1210-M1330-M1530-M1710-M1730_W0QQitemZ180315170393QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_3?hash=item180315170393&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1300|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=354470&view=detailed#ProductTabs

http://www.upgradecomputermemory.com/ram.cfm/memory/D/Dell-Memory/XPSLaptopNotebookSeries/XPSM1330

http://accessories.euro.dell.com/sna/PopupProductDetail.aspx?cs=iedhs1&l=en&c=ie&sku=A1986895

72hundred

Try www.memoryx.com (Visit the website in IE) for extra RAM. That website will automatically scan your laptop and tell you the RAM you need. I ordered 4Gb's off them the other day, prices are good (alot cheaper than Komplett or Maplins).

If running a 32 bit OS you'll only get 3.25Gb or so of usable RAM. To find out the reason for this you could visit here: Coding Horror: Dude, Where's My 4 Gigabytes of RAM?

As for the actual improvement - it could be negligible. 2Gb is probably enough for Vista. Some say it isn't, but that would only be on "cluttered" OS's where's there's a lot of programs running in the background. The advantages would be if you were running large programs, regularly. Such as AV editing, but its unlikely you'll be doing that on a M1330.

Other upgrades would be the hard drive; an expensive option would to get a solid state drive. The improvements in loading times are staggering, but the price is too much currently. Something to keep an eye on for the future.

Overall, I'd say your best option is not to buy anything! The best option would be use the resources in the laptop more efficiently;

• Re-install the OS. The single best thing you can do. It'll clear all the clutter out and leave you with a "fresh" laptop. Often it'll actually run faster than when you got it from Dell, as the preinstalled stuff will be gone. Also only install programs that you actually use. The software that comes with mp3 players, scanners, printers, cameras etc. is all JUNK and shouldn't be installed. All peripherals will work fine as long as the suitable driver is installed.

• Defrag the hard drive. To learn more about defraging. The best de-fraggger; JkDefrag.

• Tune-up Vista. Vista is a bit "messy", so much so that XP is still a rival. There's ways to make it run alot better. Read this guide over at another forum, NBR: NBR Vista Tips and Tweaks Guide - Notebook Forums and Laptop Discussion

• Install some free anti-virus and firewall, and some other free software that you might interesting in this list; Best Free Software for Windows - Notebook Forums and Laptop Discussion . Freeware is great for two reason, firstly its free and secondily, unlike Norton, it won't remind you to pay for your yearly subscribtion every 5 minutes.

Best of luck with the laptop!

sternn

Ok, I have decided I am going to upgrade to 4gb of ram, even though I probably wont get the full effects.

Im looking on memorybits.co.uk and the one (i think that works) that is the cheapest is

"Kingston 2GB DDR II SDRAM DRAM SO DIMM 200-pin 800MHz CL5 Non-ECC Unbuffered 256x64 1.8V"

And a quick question, is that the same as

"# Memory Speed : 667MHz
# Package_Type : 200-pin SODIMM
# Technology : DDR2 SDRAM
# Data Integrity Check : Non-ECC
quoted on the dell website which is compatible with my laptop.

The price difference is quite large, but I want to make sure its right. I know the MHz are different, but I have read that my laptop will still accept this.

Blazer

From looking at the tech specs for the XPS 1330 Dell doesn't support 800mhz.
Of course it's entirely possible it would still work but it would default to 667mhz anyway with the chipset limitation.
My advice is to get a 667mhz 2gb stick just to be on the safe side.