Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

General discussion

My Notebook: Upgrade or Buy New???

Jan 27, 2005 10:57PM PST

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.

Discussion is locked

- Collapse -
P.S. Forgot to mention...
Jan 27, 2005 11:11PM PST

- 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?

- Collapse -
With 64 bit coming there is a fixed term to productivity
Jan 28, 2005 11:11AM PST

Windows Longhorn 64 bit is coming so you won't get 3-4 years of productive use (you could still use it but it can never be 64 bit) out of it.

Look at the Pentium M Centrino notebooks in the $1,000-$1,500 range and there may be one there (get new Sonoma specs like Dell 6000) you like.

Or, you can get an Athlon 64 notebook (HP/Compaq see R3000forums.com or Gateway at Best buy) and you could in theory use it with Longhorn as it is 64 bit.

Sony is dead last in major US company service so I doubt you will get much out of them on a notebook this old. Your Sony has done very well for you, however, given your use.

Note that Windows 3.1, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows ME, and Windows XP are all 32 bit operating systems -- so the move to 64 bit is not trivial ........

You will have to buy new software in addition to take advantage of 64 bit so companies are licking their chops for that release likely in 2007.

- Collapse -
Fixing or selling...
Jan 28, 2005 1:55PM PST

I think your upgrade prices are a little high. I saw at least 2 sites on eBay selling 40 Gig HDs that would appear to fit in your computer for around $80. As to memory, I didn't look at more than one site, but at http://www.memoryx.net/sonvapcmem114.html the quote for 256MB is $90. With shipping, you're looking at less than $200.

If you want a new machine, that's a different story. I just bought a reconditioned IBM X40 on ebay that is by far the best laptop I've ever owned. I was able to sell my old Vaio on ebay which reduced the cost of my new laptop by about a 1/3.

If you did want to sell your old laptop, you would probably only have to put in a new hard drive and let the new owner worry about adding memory.

- Collapse -
Thanks for sound advice.
Jan 28, 2005 11:02PM PST

KenSanramon and cgarrity,

Thanks a lot for your good advice and suggestions... What both of you are saying makes a lot of sense, and, after weighing my needs and wants, I'm going the "upgrade" route, as it's a good compromise even for a short term if/when I get a new machine... I'll probably keep it as a good back up machine.

I found all I needed at www.memorysuppliers.com : 5,400rpm, 40 GB HDD, and 2 x 256GB ram (512 total), for a total of $205. Not bad, ay? Happy

Thanks again for your help, guys.

nomad_ent

- Collapse -
Q for cgarrity....
Jan 28, 2005 11:05PM PST

"I just bought a reconditioned IBM X40 on ebay that is by far the best laptop I've ever owned. I was able to sell my old Vaio on ebay which reduced the cost of my new laptop by about a 1/3."

Q: What was your VAIO model? and how much did you sell it for, if you don't mind me asking... Even if I upgrade mine, I'm not sure people would be willing to pay more than the upgrade cost for it...

Thx

- Collapse -
Upgrading
Jan 29, 2005 3:11AM PST

Send me a note to net.flyer@comcast.net and I'll tell you about my upgrade.

- Collapse -
My upgrade.
Jan 28, 2005 11:24PM PST

I'm holding out for the low volt 64-bit chips to arrive. But my Acer p3-600 was getting a little tired and was booting up far too slow. Something beyond 4 minutes.

I ordered a 40GB 5400 RPM drive (70 bucks) and a 24X CDRW/DVD drive (89) to give the machine some added time. The machine came with an 11GB drive and as I found out, was dog slow.

To move the 40GB drive in, I used a 2.5 to 3.5 drive adapter in a desktop and cloned the 11GB drive to the 40GB. Bingo, boot times dropped to under 2 minutes. I was happy.

Next the CDRW was all of a 4X. I use this machine for onsite code alterations so it was beginning to be a factor affecting how long it took to make the delivery CDR.

I lucked out in that Acer used the generic CD drive factor. The new 24X CDRW/DVD went right in. Of course the Acer supplied recording software promptly would have nothing to do with the new drive. No problem. I went with http://www.cdburnerxp.se/ and it works super. I installed PowerDVD and DVDs now play as well.

The final great item/upgrade/addition was a 1GB Memory Stick. This was 59 bucks on sale.

So the total dollar hit was... 70 + 89 + 59 = 219 bucks and I have a laptop I can keep using for one more year. I did this stepup some 6 months ago and "I feel good" about it. The memory stick can be used elsewhere so it may not be mandatory for this update, but I list it since it's been quite nice to have.

Bob