Toshiba RAM & Graphics upgrade

Donie75

Hi,
I have a Toshiba Equium M40X-189 with a 1.6GHZ Pentium M Processer & 512MB of RAM. It's about 3 years old and starting to get a bit slow. I was wondering if it would be worth my while doing a RAM upgrade. I can boost the RAM to 1.5MB easily for about 30 or 40 quid. Will I notice much difference with this?
Also this laptop has very basic graphics capabilities. I think it just has a very basic intel mobile graphics adapter.
Her's the spec...
Graphics adapter manufacturer : Mobile Intel®
memory amount : up to 128 MB
memory type : DDR RAM (UMA)
2D graphics accelerator : Yes
3D graphics accelerator : Yes
motion compensation : Yes

Is it possible to upgrade the Graphics Adapter on a laptop like this???

Thanks.
D

Voodu Child

You can't upgrade the graphics unfortunately. But unless you're doing something graphically intensive (gaming, HD video, etc), that shouldn't be a problem.

You should certainly consider upgrading the ram, it will make a good difference. It is so cheap these days you may as well max it (to 2Gb I believe). That means two separate 1Gb modules. That won't even be €30, much less.

If the laptop is running slowly, a clean install will usually help. Back up all your important files and do a fresh installation of Windows XP.

You've probably got a slow hard-drive also (4200rpm), so if you're looking to upgrade the system, that's something to think about. You could replace it will a larger, faster drive for pretty cheap. It will make a big difference in day to day responsiveness. And if the original drive is 3 years old, it will be near the end of its life anyway, it will likely have some surface damage and bad sectors etc. Again, just make sure to get the right one, due to the age, it doesnt take the now more common SATA drive.

Donie75

Thankd Voodoo for the great reply. I did a bit of Googling and found that 1.5GB is the max RAM because the existing 512MB is built-in and cannot be removed. So 1.5GB is the max.
The Hard Drive replacement seems like a great idea. I could probably upgrade to a 120GB or 160GB handy enough.
The HD specs are...
Hard disk capacity : 60 GB
height : 9.5 mm
drive rotation : 4,200 rpm
number of disks : 2
number of heads : 3
interface : Enhanced IDE (ATA-6)
buffer size : 8 MB
desktop or notebook? : notebook

Would something like this work okay? http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=341059
Also, should I buy one of these laptop replacement kits for transferring data?

Voodu Child

Yeah, I checked for you there, and it seems the laptop has two memory slots, but one is basically inside the machine (the one with 512Mb in it), you've got to do a lot of work to get to it. It is removable, and its a standard ram slot, but it's under the keyboard and some other components. So for practical purposes, 1.5Gb is the max.

I'm not 100% sure about the hard-drive, the drive is correct (2.5" IDE) but some of the old IDE controllers would only allow up to 128Gb depending on whether they support LBA 24-bit or 48-bit. I'll look into it for you if I get a chance.

Donie75

Voodoo,
I found a guy in the States who runs an Ebay store called Memorychiks. He has a 160GB hard drive, 1gb of RAM and a kit for transferring the data from the old HD to the new one and it all comes with detailed instructions. His pages say that the parts are compatible to my laptop and he's looking for the equivilant of about €150 delivered to Ireland.

Does this seem like a good deal?

Will there be any issue using equipment from the US?

Thanks,

D

Voodu Child

No, that's not really a good deal, just fairly average or even a bit pricey. There's no reason to buy from the US with stuff like this, the shipping cost will negate any savings.

Go with the 120Gb drive from Komplett. I never got to check if your IDE controller was 24-bit or 48-bit LBA, so stay under 128Gb to be safe.

You'll get a 512Mb or 1Gb PC2700 stick for €20 or less....they're actually a little expensive compared to modern ram on account of being less common and sold in smaller numbers. Though i bet you'd pick a used one up on adverts for a few quid.

The 'kit' for transferring data from your old HDD is just an external enclosure. You'd only need one if you had no other way to back-up your data (ie DVD, external drive, etc.) , or if you wanted to keep the old-drive handy as an external drive. You'd pick one up for about €15 on Komplett at the same time as the drive if you really wanted one (making sure to get the correct one, ie 2.5" IDE)

The only other thing to worry about is do you have the Windows CD to do the fresh install on the new drive?

Donie75

I thought it was a bit rich alright. I checked lots of places for RAM and about €40 for 1GB was the best deal. I can understand that the older stuff is more expensive.
As for the HD. My existing HD has a ATA-6 interface. Will the ATA-100 interface of the HD on Komplett be suitable?

Thanks for all your help Voodoo.

Donie

Voodu Child

ATA-6 is the same as ATA/100. The 100 just means the interface allows for 100Mb/s. The terminology is just confused and interchanged often.

€40 seems very steep for just 1Gb ram, I would shop around as much as possible. For that money, im not sure i'd bother, maybe just go with a 512Mb upgrade if it is a lot cheaper. Maybe see if someone on ebay is selling for less - or like I say, see if someone on adverts has a stick lying around.