Dell 5100 Myth?

I have an old Dell 5100 (2.4 P-4) and instead of dropping about a grand on a new laptop, I was thinking about squeezing the life out of this one by buying a 512 chip (it currently only has 256M of RAM). Some of the sites that I've been to say that only one of the chips are slots for this particular laptop are modifiable--the other is configured by the factory. Does this mean that in that particular slot, I am stuck with the 256-chip?

Also, Will I experience that much of a difference in speed if I go from 512 to 1Gig?

Thanks

 

I always thought both RAM slots were user-accessible, check out some of Dell's service manuals on their support site.

What kind of applications are you running? There will definitely be a huge difference going from 256MB > 512.

 

I don't run too many exciting applications: a few browsers at a time and some a small business accounting program. Most of my work involves accessing a remote server, so what I am most concerned with is instantaneous page-loading. Should I bother with the jump from 768M to a Gig?

 

The max memory for the 5100 is 1GB, so one 512MB stick is each slot. If you want better performance, I would suggest upgrading the hard drive as well. They are the weak link in the performance chain of a laptop. If you do those two thing, you'll have a new laptop or so it will seem. Good Luck.