- I recently bought a Seagate 300 GB External Hard drive, so storage is NOT an issue for me (alas, data transfer is, as USB-1 of my current machine is about 40 times slower than that of USB-2 or Firewire).
- USE: I'm not a gamer or heavy duty media player, use it mostly for regular stuff like MS Office, etc...
- In case I end up buying a new machine, what would you recommend I should do to salvage this machine at least for SOME use (for my 13 y.o. son or something): WOuld just replacing the HDD be enough?
I bought my Sony VAIO PCG-FX250 in SEPTEMBER 2001:
- P-III 800Mhz CPU,
- 256 RAM (Expandable to 512MB),
- 20 GB HDD,
- CDRW/DVD-ROM, etc...
Great machine, VERY reliable, no complaints (I've dropped it, spilled coffee on it, dragged it all over every other week - I recently opened it - it was sooo dusty inside from all these years of travel and abuse)...
Since about 2 months ago, I've started having problems with my "Scandisk" command, and my more PC-literate friend told me, that it sounds like a hardware problem, and that my hard disk has a surface problem, and that eventually my HDD will die. The problem is getting progressively worse - I'm having a hard time every other day to boot up my system...
So my options are:
1. Upgrade the current machine: (HDD is dying, RAM isn't big enough anymore these days, and 800 MhZ is noticeably slow...): I can at least buy and install a new HDD and up the RAM to 512... (total about $300-400?). OR:
2. Buy a brand new machine and be worry free for another 3-4 years. Downside: Cost is an issue for me these days.
My Q to all you gurus is:
1. How hard will it be for me to find precise compatible upgrades for my notebook (Sony site has NO info on the fx-250s anymore), and will they be a reasonable price?
2. Will it be very hard to try upgrade/install myself? I'm very good with my hands, eyes, and well-coordinated. But, notebooks are only NOW more or less easily upgradeable. It took my quite a while JUST to open and look around inside my unit.
Thanks.

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