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Change or upgrade 8 year old laptop

griffonmark · 2019-12-30 15:03:39

I’ve an old laptop with 6 gigs RAM and 1tb drive with i5 2011 processor. It’s running Win 7 and only use it for basic Word or Word-like documents. Other than that use the odd time for browsing and Netflix or The odd match on either Eir sport or TV now when I’m away in remote areas in the country by hot spotting from my…

30-12-2019 04:03PM

#1

griffonmark

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I’ve an old laptop with 6 gigs RAM and 1tb drive with i5 2011 processor. It’s running Win 7 and only use it for basic Word or Word-like documents. Other than that use the odd time for browsing and Netflix or The odd match on either Eir sport or TV now when I’m away in remote areas in the country by hot spotting from my phone. I’m thinking of either upgrading to Win 10 plus a new SSD; or buying a refurbished Win 10 laptop with maybe 8 RAM and SSD with newer generation i3/i5 (or equivalent). Or would something like a Lenovo Ideapad S340 4gb RAM 128 SSD with Ryzen 3 processor do me nicely at €330. To upgrade existing one is 145 for Win 10 plus a new drive. Need some wise advice.

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#2 30-12-2019 04:27PM

raxy

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Argos have a Lenovo S340 with AMD Ryzen 5 & 8GB ram & 256GB SSD for 430. I got it during black Friday & am pretty happy with it. Don't know how the cheaper model performs but I'd say the 8GB, double memory & better processor is worh the 100 extra.
I think I seen a post saying you can still upgrade to windows 10 for free on here so maybe have a search for it & see. If all it takes if upgrading to a SSD that could get you a few more years with your current laptop rather than buying a new one.

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#3 30-12-2019 04:28PM

raxy

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https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=112080940

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#4 30-12-2019 05:30PM

[Deleted User]
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6gb ram is still ok

the big difference would be in swapping the hdd for a 2.5 inch sata ssd

that would make a HUGE difference

upgrade to win 10 also for FREE - no cost - https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/microsoft/you-can-still-upgrade-to-windows-10-for-free-heres-how/

the cleanest way would be to buy an ssd like this one for 40 euro for 480gb (don't worry if you don't know brand - coommodity item now and highly rated). so total upgrade cost is 40 euro lol

https://www.amazon.co.uk/ASENNO-SATAIII-Internal-Notebook-Desktop/dp/B07VCCZZL7/ref=sr_1_6?crid=2CAEUE89KI0L&keywords=480gb+ssd&qid=1577723197&sprefix=480gb+%2Caps%2C173&sr=8-6

get a usb stick and create a bootable windows 10 install (google - easy by downloading windows iso) and do a clean install onto the ssd once you have put it in (easy - just take out old hdd and replace)

maybe update to win 10 first using link about and note your win 10 licence key if needed for when installing from usb key to the new ssd. (copy any old files required from old hdd to something to keep)

https://www.google.com/search?q=find+windows+10+product+key&oq=find+windo&aqs=chrome.0.0j69i57j0l5j69i65.2773j0j1&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

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#5 31-12-2019 12:23PM

Homelander

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An i5 from 2011 is still pretty ok for those sorts of tasks, 6gb ram is also plenty, given that you can get a 240gb ssd now for about €30 I'd just get that, will make a major difference. Win10 can be installed for free, it works forever with just a watermark in the corner of the screen, so don't bother buying it.

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