8204wlmi user upgrading

I am looking into purchasing a 8204 (after getting a macbook pro and not liking it - *sigh*) but was curious if anyone (specifically people who have one) could enlighten me on how much capability for upgrading it has.

I am mostly interested in: harddrive, processor (can the board handle a 64bit chip for the coming vista?), ram (is 533mhz the fastest it can take), optical drive and vid card (both not that big of a concern).

Any info on how easy/possible it is to upgrade any of these would be appreciated. I got plenty of desktop upgrading experience, but this would be my first laptop, so I'm a little weary to go under the hood.

Thanks

 

A look at Intel's site indicates that the Mobile 945PM http://www.intel.com/products/chipsets/945pm/index.htm
would be able to support 667MHz DDR2 ram.

I am not sure about the support of Core Duo 2 (64bit) on this chipset. Maybe others can help shed some light here. Most of us will just use 32bit OS and programs for a while before migrating to full 64bit anyway.

 

Bah, can't believe I didn' think to look up the chipset. Thanks for that

My only question is that every spec sheet I've seen for the 8204 lists the max memory at 2gigs. But the intel site you linked says the 945PM can take up to 4gigs. Inconstincies like that make my uncomfortable. Does anyone have experience having 4gigs in the 8204? or putting in the faster 667mhz ram?

 

Hard Disk: Easy. Cover secured by two screws on bottom of laptop, drive secured by one screw, drive bracket attached by two screws

Optical drive: Easy. It is removable in a MediaBay module. The drive is held into the module by four screws, and the bezel pops off the front.

RAM: Easy for one slot, somebody else may be able to answer for the other. It is DDR2 533/667 MHz SDRAM memory compatible. One slot is easily accessible, a cover secured by five screws on the bottom of the laptop is all that's in your way. Not sure about the other slot.

CPU: Intermediate. Quite a bit of work to get to, at least following Acer's instructions. about 45 screws, a dozen or so cables before you get the CPU out. The BIOS was just updated for Merom compatibility, so yes, you should be able to put a 64-bit CPU in there.

GPU: I don't know, but I doubt you'll find it easy to get a replacement in the first place, let alone replace it. That's the case with most notebooks though.

 

Most spec sheets I've seen say the 8204WLMi accepts 4GB of RAM. Acer's service manual states "256/512MB or 1GB of DDR2 533/667 memory, Upgradeable to 2GB for 32bit OS, 4GB for 64bit OS by using two SODIMM modules". The user manual states 2GB. The US brochure says 2GB in one place, 4GB in another. The head office brochure says 4GB.

 

As most notebooks in the market, the memory upgrade is hampered by;

1) Only 2 slots of memory bank
2) Availability of bigger size RAM

Intel 945PM's ceiling for memory is 4GB. But you will be hard pressed finding 2GB DDR2 667MHz in the market right now, and you will need 2 of those to make 4GB.

Preproduction 64bit Meroms (Core Duo 2) can run on Intel 945PM but production CPUs may be restricted to newer chipsets by Intel. Again these CPUs are not in the market yet.

If you are willing to wait till Q3 this year, your options will be better. The AMD64 TurionX2 Ferrari should be out along with the Intel Core Duo2 models.

I bought the 8204 after considering my past purchases. The only upgrades worth taking for notebooks are are RAM and HDD. All my desktops were never upgraded although I always tend to buy with contingency for upgrades. I used them for 3-4 years and just get a totally new one.

 

Thanks so much gweilo8888 and GreyGhost, you guys gave me the perfect info that I needed.

I need to get my computer stat, as I leave the country for a new job in 1 month. Upgradability for the Meron was my main concern since I'm more than a little ticked that my timetable is making me miss it by just a month or two (I've heard that the Meron is done, they are just waiting for the fall/back to school season to launch it, which ticks me off even more).

But from the sound of it I should be set for upgrading to Meron if I want.

Again, thanks so much both of you!

 

While this is certainly true, it is worth bearing something in mind. Acer has upgraded the BIOS to support Merom. They're not doing this to support user upgrades of the CPU, and they're *definitely* not doing it to support user upgrades for a handful of users who have preproduction chips.

That means that they're almost certainly doing it because they plan to have a machine for sale based around this board, and a Merom chip. They wouldn't be planning that (and spending the money on having the BIOS made) unless they knew beyond doubt that they'd be *able* to sell that product.

That fact makes it extremely unlikely that preproduction Meroms will work in the 8204, but production Core 2 Duo chips won't work...

 

on a side note, all intel 945 chipsets can techically support up to 4 gigs of ram. however, it is dependent on whether the bios supports it or not. this is why dell can use 4 gigs right now, while most others can't.....they have written their bios to use 4 gigs.

 

My guess is that 4GB of a double 2GB 667Mhz low latency SO-DIMMs are gonna cost about the same as a budget notebook when they debut.

 

Haha, right now its actually more.

You can customize an XPS M1210 on Dell's site with 4GB of 667 RAM for $3000 extra.

 

The two SO-DIMM RAM slots are actually in the same spot - the 2nd DIMM sits directly under the first. So changing the 2nd DIMM is easy, so long as you've removed the 1st DIMM already, otherwise next to impossible

 

what on earth do you need 4 gigs of ram anyway???

 

Lots of pr0n. Duh.