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General discussion

Do I need to add RAM to speed up my laptop, or a new laptop?

by scottwrichardson Jan 25, 2009 1:31PM PST

I'm running a pretty old (6 years) Fujitsu C Series Lifebook with 256 MB of RAM, 40 GB hard disk, and a Pentium 4 1.6 GHz. The performance has slowed to the point where it's pretty annoying, and I have to do restarts usually about once a day after I get a crash. I'm running Windows XP Home SP 3. The hard drive has ample free space left, and I've tried the few tricks I know to optimize performance, but haven't gotten it to do very well. I basically just use Safari and Word, and occasionally I-Tunes and Acrobat -- that's about it. Nothing fancy. Any recommendations on anything I can do to boost performance, or is it just time for a new laptop?

Thanks!
Scott

Discussion is locked

5 Posts
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Take things into consederation
by Megaherz Jan 25, 2009 1:43PM PST

If you do have the money then it is time to buy a new laptop. Now a days its cheap to buy a new laptop. Especially refurbishment models like from www.tigerdirect.com . Getting to your question of adding RAM, you should get more RAM at least until your ready to move to a new computer. Reading how old your laptop is you should consder getting a new one and transfer all of your files with a free hard drive cloner you can get from download.com and move it you your new laptop.

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I'm leaning toward a new laptop.
by baaapower Jan 25, 2009 2:06PM PST

You can add more RAM and get a little bit better performance, 256MB RAM is the bare minimum to run XP. Less than $50 worth of RAM should make a difference and may buy you more time.
However, you will only be pushing back the inevitable act of getting a new computer. You can get a decent machine a really good price, especially if you are just looking to do basic computing without the hassle of daily crashes.
In general the lifespan of a laptop is 2-4 years, depending on usage needs and daily abuse.

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The problem is finding ram for a machine
by orlbuckeye Jan 25, 2009 7:35PM PST

that old. You better off getting a new laptop.

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I agree
by Megaherz Feb 7, 2009 4:26PM PST

At the Current price of laptops i will suggest you going out and buying a new laptop. You can find great deals like on www.tigerdirect.com . They have a great selection and awsome prices especially with refurbrished models. Check them out and think about getting a new one.

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MAKE SURE THIS IS YOUR LAPTOP.
by r. proffitt Forum moderator Jan 25, 2009 11:23PM PST

Why would I write this? You have one of the classic Pentium 4 booby trap laptops. These are famous for working when dropped off at a service counter for upgrade but can go downhill from there.

I tried crucial.com and see ram so you can upgrade it but it will only reduce the time of some operations but will not speed up the machine. The difference is subtle but worth noting.

So tread with care on those P4 laptops.

Another speed hit is when the P4 heatsink isn't performing (clogged, dead fan, etc.) and the P4 throttles back to stop it from being damaged. We tear those down to put fresh heatsink compound and build it back up cleaning as we tear down and building it back up.
Bob

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