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    Upgrading Dell Inspiron 8100 - Please Advise

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by todsandberg, Jan 18, 2008.

  1. todsandberg

    todsandberg Newbie

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    The System
    Dell Inspiron 8100 with Pentium 3 1.13 GHz CPU, 256MB of RAM (2 x 128MB), 30GB hard drive (4200RPM), running Windows XP home with SP2.

    This laptop seems to be much slower than my desktop machine that is 700MHz with at least 384MB ram (and 7200RPM HD).

    - Which upgrade is more important to speed things up? RAM or Hard drive speed?

    - Can I install an 80 - 100 GB ATA-6 7200 RPM without problems?
    Never bought new laptop HD before... Is the 7200RPM an issue?

    - Is it worth upgrading? I'm looking to buy a HD for about $100 new, and maybe memory used (2x256) for $30

    Thanks for any advice!
     
    todsandberg, Jan 18, 2008
    #1
  2. NetBrakr

    NetBrakr Notebook Deity

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    Hello and welcome.

    Hard drive and RAM is important to speed up your notebook.

    For example, hard drive's RPM speed can improve the speed of boot up and RAM can load the program much faster w/o having to use SLOW virtual RAM.

    You should have no problems install the HD, make sure its ATA-6 or below.

    JC
     
    NetBrakr, Jan 18, 2008
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  3. todsandberg

    todsandberg Newbie

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    Thanks for the advice, NetBrakr!

    Couple follow up questions for anyone:


    Could a HD size of 80 - 100 GB be an issue with BIOS?

    Could the 7200 RPM get too hot?

    Thanks.
     
    todsandberg, Jan 18, 2008
    #3
  4. moon angel

    moon angel Notebook Virtuoso NBR Reviewer

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    It could be an issue with the BIOS but I don't think it would be. It is a Dell though and their BIOSs can be a bit funny.

    Heat wise... I don't see why, unless you tend to do very hard disk intensive stuff. It might be a tad loud though, it depends on the drive. To be really honest I'd just get a Seagate Momentus 5400.3 drive, it'll be a lot cheaper and almost as fast, certainly fast enough for day to day things. I noticed a huge boost with my Momentus drive overmy old Fujitsu 5400rpm drive.
     
    moon angel, Jan 18, 2008
    #4
  5. Commander Wolf

    Commander Wolf can i haz broadwell?

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    Commander Wolf, Jan 18, 2008
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  6. NetBrakr

    NetBrakr Notebook Deity

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    I don't think its a problem w/ the BIOS.

    JC
     
    NetBrakr, Jan 18, 2008
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  7. todsandberg

    todsandberg Newbie

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    Thank you everyone for your helpful replies!
     
    todsandberg, Jan 18, 2008
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