dell xps inspiron

Hi! i was wondering if someone can clear this doubts about this laptop.
I have a 1st gen dell xps inspiron with the following config
P4 3.4 cpu
Ati 9700
HD 60gb
1gb ram(1 dim)

Can i upgrade the ati 9700 to another gpu?
Can i upgrade to 2gb with standard ddr ram or do i have to buy special dell ram?(the mobo supports 2 gb)
Is there a chance in h... that i can flash the obo bios(there is an update) and the ati9700 bios(also an update) without the batery? because the batery doesn't work
I got this laptop for 250us all i had to buy was another charger(150 watts 7.7a, it's made in china,it costed me 40 us in ebay, will it last?)
I ask this because i have never upgraded a notebook gpu, but i been custo building HTPC'S for a while. so i have some exp. in hardware.
Thanks for the help!

 

I can't comment about the video card with absolute certainity, but I am pretty sure that the 9700 is the maximum card supported by the XPS Gen1 motherboard.

As for the RAM you can upgrade it with any DDR RAM of the given speed rating (I believe the Gen 1 uses PC2700 DDR RAM). Check NewEgg and Frys for prices. They will certainly be cheaper than Dell. I bought DDR RAM PC2700 1GB SODIMMS for about 35 dollars after rebate (Crucial brand with Micron chips) about 3 weeks ago.

Regarding the power adapter, you may want to just buy a Dell orginal power adapter for the XPS Gen 1, to be safe. Should be around 70 bucks through Dell Spare Parts.

Good Luck!

 

Thank's for the help!
I'll take a chance and buy a 1gb pc2700 and see if it works.
I think this laptop was a good buy for what i paid.
I can't play oblivion on my sony vaio because of the GMA 3100 and i can play it with this one. lol

 

Hey there. I owned and just sold a Gen 1 XPS like yours... pretty solid machine and it can still hold its own.

Firstly, if you only have one SODIMM of RAM, you're taking a performance hit. These machines do best with matched pairs. IIRC, the RAM is PC3200, not PC2700. I never did a 2GB upgrade... a little expensive unfortunately. Still, 1GB was pretty adequate for what I generally used it for.

And, good news... you do have an upgrade route for your notebook. There's the 256MB Mobility Radeon 9800. Decent graphics card... with that and the memory you should be able to do some light gaming(played Stalker on medium quality with my setup, and tried Oblivion and found it a little too choppy).

You can also get the P4 Extreme processor as an upgrade, but they're still a bit pricey... about $500.

If you've got any more Qs about the 9100 XPS, lemme know... I did a decent bit with mine.

Edit: With your power adapter, make sure you watch the cord. I had two(the original Dell and a Chinese-made Ebay special) mess up on me by the power plug side of the cord pulling out of the adapter(wouldn't charge the battery, and later on would shut the laptop down if moved around a little). I thought the actual AC port on the XPS was toast until I got an actual refurbished adapter off Ebay. Never had any trouble with that one.

 

I still own a gen-one XPS that I keep in my computer room. The max memory is 2GB right?

I've gone through two power cords in its 3 year life. The original one failed a week ago and a model "P-15 family" chinese one from ebay only lasted a month before shorting out with a bang (scared the hell out of me too). Then I bought a refurb Dell one from ebay and it's been good so far.

Still a solid machine for older games, getting a little too heavy to lug around though. Going to invest in a tablet soon I think.