Would you say its time for me to get a new laptop?

How often would you say we should upgrade to new notebooks? My current one is almost 4yrs old, and its only a single PM CPU 1.73 with 2GB DDR2 ram and 2MB L2 I believe. Lately its been really getting on my nerves cause it seems with all my mulit tasking a single CPU processor just isnt cutting it anymore. I dont game on it, I just use it for general usage but I always have lots of tabs open in my browser and lots of windows. Im running XP pro. I stream lots of video and download lots of music. Its laggy, everythings slow even when streaming video. I cant even stream video and multitask light stuff in videos without the video skipping. No its not my internet connection cause i dont get this on any of my other computers and theyre newer. And this is after I reformatted my HD, no viruses, scanned and removed all spy and malware. Drive is degragmented.

What gives? Should I just go buy a new laptop? Maybe the lifespan of my baby is coming to an end.

 

if anything, redo your machine entirely. i believe that every pc/laptop should have it's operating system reinstalled AT LEAST every 1.5 to 2 years. maybe overkill, but redoing your machine will have it running 'like new' again.

i, personally, can always find a reason to buy another laptop so i think whether or not you need a new one depends on you. it's definitely old but if you're happy with it, and it serves it's purpose for you, maybe you should just reinstall the OS and continue using it.

 

80GB HD?

Buy anything more current and you'll notice performance you didn't know your machine ever had.

The 7K500 TravelStar Hitachi is probably overkill, but even a Scorpio Blue 500GB BEVT model would transform that machine.

See this link if you want to set up a new HD to keep good/great performance over time:

See:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=5617217#post5617217

I also recommend an upgrade to Win 7 (are you or do you know a student that could get you a great deal on Win 7?):

See:
http://go.notebookreview.com/?id=52...e.com/reviews/windows-7-performance,2476.html

 

If you have a Pentium M, it was time to get a new laptop a couple of years ago!

Even the cheap-o $399 laptops will be leaps and bounds ahead of your current laptop.

 

^^^I second that. Even though you can improve it a bit, spending that money on a new NB will get you an even better one. 4 yrs is defenitely time to get a new one.

 

What I'm thinking is: $80 or so for a 7K500, $30-50 for a student priced Win 7 upgrade and about 2 or 3 hours following the link on how to partition a HD will give even $1,000 new notebooks a run for the price/performance ratio - for 'general computing' as the OP wants/needs/stated.

 

when was the last time you tried to run Office 2003+, web/flash browsing, or any kind of VM work on a Pentium M?

 

Office 2007 & web/flash browsing - yesterday (at 800 MHz)!

VM's? Who's doing VM's as 'general' computing? In this thread?

 

Wouldn't the current drive be an IDE drive, and not SATA?

 

Depends when he/she got the notebook, but even a currently available EIDE 2.5" drive would be preferable, performance-wise, to the 'ancient' 80GB he has now.

 

I was on the same boat as you.. With a 3+ year old laptop, but not wanting a new cheap laptop because of all the gloss, i said, let me upgrade the one i have now, and thats what i did. upgraded the ram from 512 to 2.5GB, Bought a 120GB hard drive to replace the 40GB one i have now, upgraded to CPU to one of the fastest they offer for my mother board, upgraded the optical drive, added bluetooth, and then tomorrow or the next day i am going to reinstall windows, and it will be like a new computer again. All items were under 100$ total, so it was not that bad. maybe next year some time i will get a new computer, and gives me some time to save up for a better one, then getting a cheap one from BB. I would like another dell business laptop.

 

.. even without the link to how to partition it should help much.. but, only so much. without multiple threads in parallel, the cpu really blocks the snappiness (think of the 10 parallel lanes on the intel ssd, and how they matter).

so getting a cheap dual core laptop will give a much better feel. and the disk should be better, then, too.

 

davepermen, no doubt about it, but possibly around $120 vs. min. $400+ (we know we won't stop there, right) the gains are very substantial and the $$$ saved offset the performance difference the $400+ system would give for 'general computing' anyway, no?

Don't want to make too big of a deal about this, only the OP knows what use the old vs. a new system will get - but I know that under $500 - a new 'notebook' is almost not worth buying too. At least, not for more than a year or two of use, which is what the much smaller $$ value would enable the older computer to last too, IMHO.

 

no, the performance difference would not be substantial enough, compared to the substantial gains from going multicore.

once one has a dualcore processor, one can pimp it as one want later (ssd, more ram..). but the first step i would do, always, is to go at least dualcore.. the difference for me is substantial enough.

 

I used to buy a new notebook every year. I'd typically buy an $800-900 Dell on closeout (High end, previous gen tech), then sell my old system. A year later I could still get $600 from it so I sell on Craigslist and get a new $900 system. It's basically $300/year for a new laptop, which to me is about even for paying $900 every 3 years, except I have new tech constantly.

Now that I don't need a powerful notebook anymore I just have my primary desktop and ultra-portable, but my old method worked great.

 

I did reinstall everything right from scratch last week. Even right after I boot it up for the first time without anything installed I have menus lag when I open and close them, graphics are choppy and slow to respond. I think this could be cause the onboard video is outdated? And yes all my drivers have all updated drivers.

 

Yes 80GB HD but I did upgrade it right after I bought this laptop cause the one that came with it was 4200rpm and mine now is 5400rpm. I was thinking about upgrading but 1) I dont need more space cause I dont put a whole lot of stuff on this computer 2) Figure id save that money and put it towards a new laptop. cause when i sell this one im going not going to get much for it anyways.

 

Did you tweak it? i.e. turn off themes and effects, disable unused services, remove start up items, etc

XP is not as cumbersome as Vista, but it is not exactly a lightweight OS as well, especially not for our 4 year old systems.

On my laptop, with XP Home, before the GPU fried, i used to run several streaming videos, Windows Media Player, multiple tabs on my browser doing multiple things, OpenOffice, and Adobe reader all simultaneously, without any lag... My system is just as old as yours, but i seem to be doing all those things at once... I have a slower internet connection(1Mbps?), which may contribute to me not having a bottleneck on my comp.

Now that the GPU has fried, i still do everything the same except for the WMP. There are yellow dots on my screen, which are... heartbreaking.

PS: I also did gaming periodically. Sometimes i run an older game(GTA:SA, Spore) whilst streaming a few videos AND running WMP...

 

Just note that you don't buy a current HD only for the capacity it offers. There are many technological advances in HD's that when seen over a two, three or four year span, make the original models look like they're using steam power to compute.

Just look at this chart to see what is possible with a newer drive:

See:
http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/2.5-hard-drive-charts/File-Writing-Performance,679.html


What is particularly eye-opening is the fact that the minimum reads/writes speeds of the newer HD's are faster than the maximum's of the older ones.

In my opinion, the best ~$80 spent on a computer is upgrading the HD, when you'll be reinstalling your O/S, anyways.

Getting a couple of years (or more) of use for that small amount will not impact what you'll be able to spend on a new system, even in the same time frame. Not only that, but for ~$80 you won't choose between two new machines that one is worth the $80 more.

No, matter - hope you make a good decision for you.

Cheers!

 

I think it's a good idea to get a new laptop when your current laptop can be beat by the lowest end laptop in your laptop range. So new notebook if the crappiest notebook today can perform better, and new netbook if the crappiest netbook today can outperform.

That is, given you buy a fairly good laptop each time, or you will end up buying a new 1 very often.

 

Yip I tweaked it alright and turned off a lot of the unnessecary services. On a freshly formatted HD, the video and menus when dragging or open/closing shouldnt be lagging

 

True good point - ill consider the HD for now (good cost saving option). Worse comes to worst i buy a new laptop (most like macbook) and sell this one off. I never cheap out on laptops so you would never see me buying the cheap $500 HP junk.

 

I'm unfamiliar with your pc but it may be worth it to look into what the best model was for your series of pc and then check ebay.

I have upgraded my 5 year old hp dv1207us twice now for minimal cost. the first time i went from a celeron to a pentium m ($40), and the second time i went to a core duo- dv1660se. I bought the mobo for $45, t2600 cpu $55,
2gig ram $40(new) and a sata 7200 rpm hd for $50 (new). It was all for under $200 and i know i can squeeze 2 more years out of it now. I could have bought a new one but this lappy has been so good to me i have a hard time letting it go.

Anyways, It may be worth looking into

 

Well I have the Sony Vaio FS830W. From what I was told way back then, the mobo cant handle dual cores and only PM...max i guess is 2.16. But really going from 1.73 to a 2.16 aint gonna make much difference.

Im pretty much maxed out on the ram for this laptop at 2G.

I still think the biggest drawback is the onboard video - would explain why im getting all this lag with my video and general multi tasking. Whenever I stream a video or even scan for spyware, my computer goes down to a snail pace. I mean if I just boot up my system with barely anything running and my comp. cant even play streaming video smoothly then id say 1) my video is shot 2) CPU just cant keep up with what im throwing at it.

Not that playing video is anything high end but why cant mine play it properly anymore?

Pisses the hell out of me cause im so used to having a snappy system.

 

I don't see a point in upgrading. Upgrading would easily cost around $50-100.

If you were to sell your old laptop for say $150 and buy a new one for $400 you have to spend $250.

Ultimately it's a difference of $150-200 between upgrading vs buying a new one. Considering the productivity gains I think it is worth it.

 

yeah, i'd say the same. better get some money together, and buy something real great and new, and then use that for the next some years.

it will be a huge step forward, and thus you will be very happy about it.

 

Yea i wouldn't bother with just a cpu upgrade. It's more likely your on board graphics are bogging you down especially with what your doing. I'm not sure i would get a new $400 lappy in your case either. While the cpu and bus speed will be better the on board video card will likely still be marginal for what you are doing. I would recommend spending a few more $$ and get a lappy with a dedicated video card in it. my 2 cents.

 

Honestly, if the PC hasnt been reformatted in a long time then a few cheap upgrades and a reformat may get you another year or so. But in reality doing a reformat alone should be enough (unless you can find a great deal on hardware). I would try that first and see if that makes your current laptop viable again before going out and spending a ton of money on a new one. Just my $.02

 

Decided im going to get a new laptop thanks all for the input. Most likely going with a macbook.

 

congrats on the decision. be sure to post pics here somewhere once you get it

 

Hey bros, can someone be kind enough to post the link to that background test to check everytrything thats running on a comp? Sorry dont know the name but right now ive been monitoring my task manager and it seems my CPU is constantly at 100%. Im guessing thats whats causing the lag.

 

Ok i found it, i ran hijack this and this is the results of whats running. If any of you tech gurus can let me know what i should do from here that would be much appreciated. Note: this is just a temp fix till i get my new notebook.

Logfile of Trend Micro HijackThis v2.0.2
Scan saved at 8:03:07 PM, on 12/15/2009
Platform: Windows XP SP3 (WinNT 5.01.2600)
MSIE: Internet Explorer v8.00 (8.00.6001.18702)
Boot mode: Normal

Running processes:
C:\WINDOWS\System32\smss.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\winlogon.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\services.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\lsass.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\Explorer.EXE
C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\aswUpdSv.exe
C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\ashServ.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\spoolsv.exe
C:\Program Files\Intel\Wireless\Bin\RegSrvc.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe
C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\ashWebSv.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\igfxpers.exe
C:\Program Files\UltraMon\UltraMon.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\ALWILS~1\Avast4\ashDisp.exe
C:\Program Files\UltraMon\UltraMonTaskbar.exe
C:\WINDOWS\RTHDCPL.EXE
C:\Program Files\Creative\Shared Files\Module Loader\DLLML.exe
C:\Program Files\Common Files\InstallShield\UpdateService\ISUSPM.exe
C:\Program Files\Creative\ShareDLL\CADI\NotiMan.exe
C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe
C:\Program Files\Trend Micro\HijackThis\HijackThis.exe

R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Page_URL = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=69157
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Search_URL = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=54896
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Search Page = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=54896
R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=69157
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [IgfxTray] C:\WINDOWS\system32\igfxtray.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Persistence] C:\WINDOWS\system32\igfxpers.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [UltraMon] "C:\Program Files\UltraMon\UltraMon.exe" /auto
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [avast!] C:\PROGRA~1\ALWILS~1\Avast4\ashDisp.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [RTHDCPL] RTHDCPL.EXE
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Module Loader] C:\Program Files\Creative\Shared Files\Module Loader\DLLML.exe -StartUpRun
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [ISUSPM] "C:\Program Files\Common Files\InstallShield\UpdateService\ISUSPM.exe" -scheduler
O9 - Extra button: (no name) - {e2e2dd38-d088-4134-82b7-f2ba38496583} - C:\WINDOWS\Network Diagnostic\xpnetdiag.exe
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: @xpsp3res.dll,-20001 - {e2e2dd38-d088-4134-82b7-f2ba38496583} - C:\WINDOWS\Network Diagnostic\xpnetdiag.exe
O9 - Extra button: Messenger - {FB5F1910-F110-11d2-BB9E-00C04F795683} - C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: Windows Messenger - {FB5F1910-F110-11d2-BB9E-00C04F795683} - C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe
O16 - DPF: {F6ACF75C-C32C-447B-9BEF-46B766368D29} (Creative Software AutoUpdate Support Package) - http://ccfiles.creative.com/Web/softwareupdate/su2/ocx/15110/CTPID.cab
O23 - Service: avast! iAVS4 Control Service (aswUpdSv) - ALWIL Software - C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\aswUpdSv.exe
O23 - Service: avast! Antivirus - ALWIL Software - C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\ashServ.exe
O23 - Service: avast! Mail Scanner - ALWIL Software - C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\ashMaiSv.exe
O23 - Service: avast! Web Scanner - ALWIL Software - C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\ashWebSv.exe
O23 - Service: InstallDriver Table Manager (IDriverT) - Macrovision Corporation - C:\Program Files\Common Files\InstallShield\Driver\1050\Intel 32\IDriverT.exe
O23 - Service: Lavasoft Ad-Aware Service - Lavasoft - C:\Program Files\Lavasoft\Ad-Aware\AAWService.exe
O23 - Service: Intel(R) PROSet/Wireless Registry Service (RegSrvc) - Intel Corporation - C:\Program Files\Intel\Wireless\Bin\RegSrvc.exe
O23 - Service: Intel(R) PROSet/Wireless Service (S24EventMonitor) - Intel Corporation - C:\Program Files\Intel\Wireless\Bin\S24EvMon.exe

--
End of file - 3864 bytes

 

Sorry, i can't decipher that stuff... however
What browser are you using? I remember facing a similar problem once, and it was because that particular version of Firefox had some kind of bug that ate up 100% CPU...
Try going back to task manager and looking at processes. Maybe you can see what process is using the most CPU power in laymen's terms.

 

I would recommend you remove Avast, Ad-Aware, SpyBot and any other A/V software (my old fav's, btw) and use MSE for free:

See:
http://www.microsoft.com/Security_Essentials/


Replaced 4 A/V adware/spyware programs with MSE and older computer was 'freed' again!

Be sure you run the full scan once it's installed - the second time the quick scan is run, it will be much faster.

 

I second what 'tilleroftheearth' said.

Also ... use Ccleaner (if you haven't already) to completely remove everything but the basic essentials starting up with Windows ... such as touch-pad drivers (if they are starting up) and an antivirus.
I only have my touch-pad drivers and A/V starting up with Windows.

One more thing ... if you just re-installed your system and the GUI is lagging ... this could be a result of outdated graphic card drivers.

To be honest, your system for what you are using it is fine spec-wise.
I agree that it 'may' slow down a bit when excessive use of flash player is used for example, but even I haven't really experienced huge issues on my previous system which is effectively identical to your system (sans the cpu, which is a Celeron M 1.6, overclocked to 2.1 Ghz).

In any event, check the startup programs with Ccleaner (you can also use it to clean up the OS in general) and replace all that A/V software with MSE.

 

Ok ill try that out. Im guessing Ad-ware, Avast use up a lot of resources? I didnt know that, always thought it was light on the ram usage.

 

Avast is 'light',

but MSE is lighter than Avast, Ad-Aware, Spybot and XSoftSpy and... (how many did I use to use/run before anyway!).

The best part is that it is real time protection with automatic updates (can't say that worked too good or at all with Ad-Aware or SpyBot).

Don't want to read all the posts again, but if you haven't tried PerfectDisk 10, you should (no matter what current defragger you're using).

If you try it;

In PD, double click on the drive you want to defrag. Select 'Agressively defrag free space', click Okay.

Click Start making sure that the Smartplacement method is selected. This is called an online defrag.

Once that is finished, check the box at the end of the drive to enable a Boot Time defrag. This is called an offline defrag and will optimize and defrag the normally unmoveable files when the system is running. Reboot the computer to start the offline defrag.

Once booted into Windows again, re-run the online defrag to fully optimize the HD's file system.

To keep the computer at its peak, click on the AutoPilot Scheduling tab and enable a new StealthPatrol schedule. Forget about PD (until the next version is introduced).

Before you do the above PD optimizations, use CCleaner to clean up temp files, disable System Restore to recover as much free space as possible (will also make the PD runs complete faster too) and more importantly, time some of your common tasks before you install the PD trial so you can compare to the PD optimized computer afterwards.

Some suggested things to time:
Shut down
Startup
Start program 'x' where is 'x' is a frequently used and/or slow loading program

Somethings that are harder to time, but should be noticeable is that 'alt-tabbing' between apps is smoother/faster and just generally the O/S is more directly connected to your mouse/keyboard commands.

Hope I'm not repeating myself to you! Just trying to help.

Cheers!

 

Thanks bro, will definitely try that out! I did remove Adware and Avast and put MSE on and so far so good!