Laptop Upgrade Question

I was going to search the forums for a post like this, because I am sure its been made a thousand times, however, I couldn't find a search tool.

My question is what components can you upgrade in a laptop? I am only curious because I just recently made a laptop purchase.

Thanks.

 

Usually only the CPU, RAM, and HDD. Maybe the optical drive. Screens are too expensive, and not worth upgrading. Generally, only the RAM and HDD are worth upgrading.

You probably cannot upgrade the GPU, so never count on that.

 

That is good news! Thank you. Another reason I was asking is because when I ordered it they told me I should upgrade to Windows Vista 64-bit and have 4GB RAM instead of 3GB, but I couldn't afford it just yet. Plus, I couldn't afford to upgrade to anything higher than 1.83Ghz Core 2 Duo processor.

Will 3GB of RAM and 1.83Ghz processor be able to handle Windows Vista 32bit well, and run programs such as Photoshop?

 

You should be ok. Windows should be fine. PS won't fly, but it should be plenty good.

 

I have run Vista Business on a T5600 1.83GHz & 2GB of ram and the C2D has had no problems with anything thrown at it.

 

If I want to upgrade the CPU and RAM, can I do that myself or can I have HP(who I bought it from) do the upgrading for me?

 

You can upgrade the ram yourself. As for you replacing the cpu, that would likely void the warranty.

 

Voiding the warranty is something that not everybody will do when upgrading the CPU.
Contact your reseller and ask. I can upgrade my RAM, HDD, CPU and GPU without voiding it, but it`s among those 1% of laptops that have that benefit

 

I meant if the user had inadvertently damaged the machine trying to upgrade. As careful as we are, it sometimes happens...........

 

you could do it yourself,,, but get the service guide to help walk you thru the process,, just know what you are getting into.... and if you do it correctly chances are they would never know.... just follow the steps below to help insure a painless warranty repair process if needed...

keep the old CPU and Ram... if you ever have to have the laptop repaired under warranty,,

first back up your HDD using DVDs, external HDD,, or cds (if your only choice)

second, just switch back the original parts,,,, and

third,, use the QUICK RESTORE DISKS to format the drive,,, HP could easily tell you had upgraded the CPU by looking in the registry (there are other was they could still tell,,, but they're not likely to dig that deep)

later,
bigO

 

Other than eleron's 1%, the MFG usually will not upgrade the CPU for you. So you have to do yourself or take it to say an independent computer repair place. If and when want to do confirm it is some type of Pin Grid Array (PGA). That is the package how it connects to the MoBo. If you see Ball Grid Array (BGA) you are out of luck. PGA (FCPGA) snaps in snaps out, BGA (FCBGA) is solderd. The only difficult part is, on some notebooks not easy to get to the CPU and depending on your experience and skills it may or may not be a good idea to do yourself.

On the RAM, if you can use a screw driver you can change the RAM.

 

I would highly recommend AGAINST upgrading a CPU yourself. Sure, you can do it...but it is expensive and risky.

If you do a lot with photoshop, you might be better off buying a laptop with a faster CPU from the start.