What Can i do with my almost 7 year old Dell laptop?

ETA:::I have an inspiron 2650 that's almost 5 yrs old,there is nothing wrong with it, it runs just fine gets me online...but it doesn't seem to be able to download files larger than 2 gb into the 4gb flash drive I bought.

I'd like to get more memory installed( i don't want to buy an external hd because I'm not even sure if it'll recognize it)
Is there something I can do without spending much $???
Or should I just purchase a new laptop since they aren't that expensive anymore( i will do so eventually but have no real reason for it at the moment)

I greatly appreciate any and all help!!!!!

 

are there other things on your flash drive?
in addtion buying a laptop right now isnt bad but waiting isnt bad either....id say wait until you need it.

 

id say long shot but could get memory and cpu maybe even a hd upgrade somone would have to inspect it and see if it can support anything faster. But Those upgrades would cost more then a new laptop cheaper to get a new laptop when yours dies.

 

If I were you I would not spend any money on that laptop and get a new one!

Even the cheapest, newest system will be much more powerful than the 7yr old Dell laptop!

 

7 years old...thats old. But my 14 year old computer beats it.
Anyway if you really like it you can keep it. But if you want to keep up with todays computer u have to buy 1 every 5-8 years. Im telling you i cant even play a games thats 2d. Solitaire. Anyway dell does sell the Inspiron 1501 for (499 American, 599 Canadian). That would be a cheaper, easier, and safer way of getting what u need.

 

I also appreciate rep points

 

thanks everyone

1- the flash drive is empty I think it has something with the FAT file??? I don't know much about comps sorry
2-i'm broke
so no idea if I should jump on the first $399 deal I see or wait & get something better for that price since I've been told priced might even drop more in the near future...
the small notebooks are looking very cute to me now, but the big chunky ones are the cheaper models
3-what should i do with this one one when I've purchased a new one or is it trash which is a pity since it runs just fine, can I make a few bucks for parts? lol

 

That is a very old notebook. You can try to give that notebook to Dell, so they can use the parts like copper for new notebooks. I like recycling!

Just ask Dell money for this recycling, and buy a new notebook. You can also try IBM, they also have a recycling going on.

 

That is a very old notebook. You can try to give that notebook to Dell, so they can use the parts like copper for new notebooks. I like recycling!

Just ask Dell money for this recycling, and buy a new notebook. You can also try IBM, they also have a recycling going on.

 

thanks
but I don't think i'm buying a new notebook from either one of these retailers even if they credit me for "recycling" it will be a very low credit & decent laptops everywhere else go for around $399-600 while dell has them for double the price

 

Does the battery still hold a charge?

 

It's mostly plugged (99%of the time )in but the two batteries should be in great condition( should check them)


I just checked my palm desktop and it's only 4.5 years old lol here is the entry from the day i bought it:

pentium4, 14 inch monitor, spare batt&case 256 ram,20gig, 24x dvd/rw, 15meg video, 3yr warranty,xp home 2002, norton 90day, 6mnhs aol, 56k modem, floppy $1447-$50 mail in rebate.

 

Two best upgrades for you and especially in this order

More memory (on XP I like to run at a minimum 512MB, XP runs like a dream on 1GB or even 768MB) Not sure exactly what model you have to the memory you need or even the available slots. Seeing that it is a few years old you might be able to get a good bit of memory for pretty cheap.


Bigger faster hard drive. If it is plugged in 99% of the time an upgrade to a 7200RPM laptop hard drive will do wonders. Unfortunately the cost may out way it to the point that a newer laptop would be a cheaper route in the end. This hard drive would probably fit you perfect with the 5400 RPM speed and the 8MB of cache you will notice a pretty big improvement over your current drive. Well worth the under $50 pricetag

 

this is all external?


what about being able to read/write on 4, 8gb sd cards? in the near future? it's not able to do that now

sorry i'm clueless

 

well you can always try buying another flash card? to me thats the cheapest way. sry if this sounds abit odd.

 

not odd at all that's what i tried
but it doesn't allow me to copy files larger than 2 gb

 

If you plan on selling it by any chance, try www.cashforlaptops.com

 

No the hard drive would be internal. I wouldn't suggest getting an external hard drive for your situation.


As for the flash drive problems did you try formatting it to another file system? Are you moving 2GB+ worth of files or a file that is bigger then 2GB?

 

you can try reformatting it to NTFS format if its possible.

 

i tried to download a larger than 2gb file which wouldn't allow that

also will any small computer shop even open up and mess with a dell? can i install it myself? I have also seen alsome deals on memory

tell me more please
i'm comp illiterate

 

http://shop3.outpost.com/product/4795159?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

any suggestions?


ST3500641A-RK 500GB 16MB

SEAGATE:
FRYS.com #: 4795159
7200RPM
16MB BUFFER
RETAIL BOXED HARD DRIVE (INSTALLATION KIT INCLUDED)
5 YEAR WARRANTY
LIMITED TO QTY ON HAND. NO BACKORDERS

 

It depends on the file system being used.

The largest file a FAT32 file system supports is 2GB. If you have a 4GB storage and would like to store files larger than 2GB, you need to reformat it into NTFS.

I have a 40GB hard drive with an external enclosure. It is formated with FAT32 and it does not accept files larger than 2GB either.

 

Put your card in the reader, open "my computer" right click on the card reader, select format, select ntfs, then proceed with the format, you will lose all data on the card by doing this, so make sure you have anything important stored elsewhere. If you still have troubles, scour dells support site for firmware updates.

 

Windows can't address such a large card under the FAT system.

Let us know if anything you do lets you access anything over 2gig.
I don't think a 4gig anything via usb was even a dream when your system came out so I wonder if it will be able to access the entire device ever.

A $600 system today is way more powerful than your system that prob cost you $1500 plus back then.

Memory would help but then again the price of the memory that fits may be high due to low availability.

Oh and about your old system..
Keep it, and put it somewhere like a table or desk.
Make it a web machine and word processing machine.
Very handy!!

 

There seems to be a bit confusion going on here. This is straight from microsoft. http://www.microsoft.com/resources/...sing_between_ntfs_fat_and_fat32.mspx?mfr=true

The user is running XP, all options are available.

One thing that could be of great help would be a reformat (with NTFS) and fresh windows install, fully update windows and system drivers.Then install everything else. If you've been running nearly 5 years on the intial installI would bet you would see a significant improvement from that alone, you can do this when you purchase a new drive, or you can do it on your existing drive if you decide not to upgrade. If the machine suits your needs, I see nothing wrong with a few inexpensive upgrades and little spit and polish, if you end up needing to invest several hundred dollars in the machine, get a new one, you would have practically bought a much better one already.

 

That wont work in any laptop, not even the latest and greatest, its a desktop drive.

Here is a link to your owners and service manuals, that should help you in finding and installing the correct parts.
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins2600/en/index.htm

 

You guys are awesome!!!

repped!

Not sure if anyone saw but I searched my palm for the pourchase date& it seems it was purchased in Oct 2002 makng it only 4.5 yrs old & yes it was about $1500 back then...

Format is FAT here are the specs:
pentium4, 14 inch monitor, spare batt&case 256 ram,20gig, 24x dvd/rw, 15meg video, 3yr warranty,xp home 2002, 56k modem, floppy $1447-$50


It seems the 4gb flash is the prob FAT32:????? why????

Ok i also put as much as I could on the flash so I cleared out about 4gb worth of info for the time being

ultimately there is absolutely nothing wrong with my laptop so if i can invest $150 and make it run faster & have more memory( a lot more) it's worth it but if it's more than that I might as well buy a nrew one

 

install linux on that mofo

 

http://shop4.outpost.com/product/5045745

http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=202475049&adid=17662&adid=17662

either of these????
and would I just go to any comp shop to install?

 

Yeah, that checks out in the service manual as well, at least your un changebal slot has 256, the max memory you can install is a total of 512, it will make a difference, though you might want to consider a new machine, dell outlet often has some killer deals, hear is one I just pulled up, it'll tromp your current system into the dirt many times over.

Inspiron 1501
(System Identifier: FX96YP94)


Inspiron 1501 Notebook: AMD Turion 64 Mobile Technology MK-36 (2.0GHz)
Genuine Windows Vista Home Basic

System Price : $529.00

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Operating System
Genuine Windows Vista Home Basic
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Memory
1 GB DDR2 SDRAM 533MHz (2 DIMMs)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hard Disk Drive
60 GB SATA Hard Drive (5400 RPM)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Video
ATI Radeon Xpress 1150 256MB HyperMemory
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Software Upgrade
Qualifies for an Express Upgrade to Windows Vista Home Basic
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Certified Refurbished
Certified Refurbished
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Base
Inspiron 1501 Notebook: AMD Turion 64 Mobile Technology MK-36 (2.0GHz)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Media Bay
24X CD RW/DVD Combo Drive
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Network Interface Card
1490 Wireless Card
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NoteBook Screen
14.1 inch WXGA Notebook Screen
Software
Image Restore Software
Roxio Creator LE
Norton Internet Security 30 day
Recource CD
Operating System CD
Earthlink ISP
Adobe Acrobat 7.0 Reader
ISP Search Assist
Microsoft Works 8.5 with MS Office Trial Version Software
AOL ISP Software
Software CD
Power DVD Software
Support Software
AOL Software
Service Software
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Misc
65W Adapter
Reference Guide
Keyboard on Notebook
4 Cell Primary Battery
Shipping Material
Processor Label
Operating System Label
AOL Software Documentation
Shipping Material

 

thank you guys yet again!

I guess I'll be saving up for a new laptop

I put this V6000z together on the HP site $555 ( Although I also want an sd slot & webcam build in)
I left the processor alone since I know nothing about it...
Operating System Genuine Windows Vista Home Basic edit
Processor Mobile AMD Sempron(TM) 3400+ (1.80GHz/256KB) edit
Display 15.4" WXGA Widescreen (1280x800) edit
Graphics Card NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) Go 6150 edit
Personalization Standard Finish edit
Memory 1GB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm) edit
Hard Drive 120GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive edit
Primary CD/DVD Drive DVD/CD-RW Combo Drive edit
Networking 802.11b/g WLAN edit
TV & Entertainment Experience No TV Tuner w/remote control edit
Primary Battery 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery edit
Productivity Software Microsoft(R) Works 8.0 edit


btw Dell told me to put my laptop on ebay lol no discount

 

The sempron is a pretty weak CPU, actually if your going to bite the bullet and get a new machine, you really should set your sights on a dual core system. check these deals out
http://rage3d.com/deals/index.php#deal44982

Either machine would serve you quite well for years to come based on the longevity of your last purchase, and at half the price.

 

http://www.circuitcity.com/ccd/productDetail.do?oid=169463&WT.mc_n=67&WT.mc_t=U&cm_ven=COMPARISON%20SHOPPING&cm_cat=PRICEGRABBER&cm_pla=DATAFEED->PRODUCTS&cm_ite=1%20PRODUCT&cm_keycode=67

what do you guys think ? I can pricematch it & it'll be $670/ 755 with taxes

thanks!

 

It'd be a big step up from your current system, what price match are you going to try and use? CC only matches LOCAL print advertisements from retail outlets, they do not match online vendor prices,at least thats how they operate here, believe me, I've tried.

 

Wow, 5+ yr old laptop? Here's the thing. If I built my PCs now, they will last a very LONG time with the beginning of Vista as a Desktop. This is mainly due to PC/Desktop CPUS being obnoxiously fast now a days and Vista just came out. This also assumes I only use the desktop as a occasional web browser/network server/video encoder. Nothing crazy here like real time video editing.

For laptops, they will always be crippled by the weight/power balance. If you kept it that long, don't cheap out on a Celeron/Sempron processor now. If you kept the old one that long and intend to keep the new one that long .... just go for the Intel Duo Core family. The $$ savings (maybe couple hundred $$) spread over a period of 4/5yrs becomes, well .... null.

 

You should try Ubuntu Linux out. There are other Linux distros that are made for older laptops which will be fine for things like web browsing. Or just give it to some low income kid to learn on.

 

officemax is having F&F week
I think i'll try it because the price seems very good at 670 right?


either way I'll buy online chose in-stoe pick up, while picking up I'll try to PM if they refuse I'll just return it right then & there. I'm thinking about purchasing it today & trying to PM it on the 16th without opening the box to avoid 15% restocking fee.
worst comes to worst I can just go& buy it in OM right?