Upgrading Dell Inspiron 8100 adivice please

I'm not overly educated in the computer tech side of things so please be kind if I sound a bit ignorant in this post. I'm in Australia & have got a Dell Inspiron 8100 with Pentium(R) 3 1000MHz CPU, 256MB of RAM (I think 2 x 128MB), 20GB hard drive, CDRW & floppy drives, running Windows XP home with SP2.

I would like to add a DVDRW drive, possibly a bigger hard drive & also upgrade the RAM to 512MB (as I think that's it's maximum). I don't know where to start, what type of each required to be compatable or what sort of prices here in good old Oz that I can expect. Anyone got some advice?

Also, I can't afford to buy a new laptop so how far can I upgrade this one? I emailed Dell a while ago asking for prices for a DVDRW & more RAM but didn't get a reply. So i figure they would much rather I buy a new system. That's why I'm now asking you.

I will appreciate any help that you can give. Thanking you in advance....... Scott

 

don't take this advice as gospel...

1. as long as you're buying a laptop hard drive (9.5mm), any drive should work

2. for RAM, try www.crucial.com or www.newegg.com... crucial.com has an online configuration tree that will guide you to the proper RAM you need, check this RAM against newegg.com for the best price

3. for a replacement drive (DVDR, etc.), try looking at ebay.com

4. RAM, HD and bay drive (CDRW, DVD, etc.) are about all you can do to upgrade

good luck

 

I'd look at Hitachi 7200Rpm drive. You'll think you got a new machine. They run about $150 here in the US. Since I am in the center of North America, I have no idea what they cost down there.

You need two 256Mb sticks of PC133 Memory. That would give you 512Mb. It may be slightly less expensive to buy one 512Mb piece, but then you'll have one open slot if 512Mb is the maximum.

Is it a modular or fixed drive? The safest route will be to buy one from Dell, if they make one. That will probably be more expensive. Upgrading optical drives can be tough. Sometimes the bezels on the new drive don't match up with the old drive. It may be possible to swap or reshape the bezel and/or caddy if it is the modular drive, depending on your skill level. Another issue is firmware. Slim optical drives do not have jumpers. The master and slave settings are usually controlled by the firmware or by dip switches inside the drive. If you get one set to master and your notebook needs it set as slave, you are going to have problems. Since most drives are OEM, you not going to get a lot of help from the manufacturer. One possiblity would be to get an external drive. That is what I did for my Thinkpad. IBM wanted $350 for a DVD burner. So I got an external slim one and put an extra battery in the bay. Good Luck.






I know things, things that could get me killed


Thinkpad T41:
* 1.6Ghz Pentium M * 768Mb Memory * 40Gb Hitachi 7200RPM * Panasonic UJ-845-B DVD+RW *

 

Thanks for your help.

 

Hey, I understand that you a little stuck here. You need some extra RAM for your dell inspiron 8100 laptop. I've got one as well, and the best thing to do if you want some extra RAM, and you don't know a lot about computers, is look up the "adding parts" section in the 8100 solutions guide, which should come with the laptop when you bought it. It is not as complicated as you think. I'm only 16, and i've done it! In the same way, you can change the hard drive, and CD drive as well. You may as well uphrade it to a DVD-RW drive! If you don't have the solutions guide however
contact dell or go to a specialist PC shop. They should help you out. Good Luck! :base:

 

Zazonz and drumfu both make good points. If you want better performance, buying new RAM and a larger 5400 or 7200 rpm drive will give you the most bang for the buck. You will notice that windows loads quite a bit faster and things in general load much faster. If you have the standard fixed optical drive, I'm not sure if NewEgg.com ships to Australia or not but here is a nice dvd-burner from them for $85. As zazonz stated, the aftermarket drives don't always fit perfectly with the faceplate lining up, but in most cases it's not that big of a deal. As for what type of RAM you need, go to Kingston.com and do a lookup for your system, it will tell you what type of RAM you need and the maximum capacity.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827152048

Matt

 

hey, adding to my reply to your thread, check out http://www.kingston.com/
They are reliable, and it is really easy to find the RAM model for the inspiron 8100!!

 

contact dell if you don't know what you are doing when you install the new components!