what are the possibilities

jasonz

jasonz

New Member
My friend got a HP tower for free b/c his step mom is a big dog there. It has everything except an HD and there is no moniter. Is there a way to connect it to my laptop moniter. I would like to get an HD and just use it as a screw around computer. I've heard you cant really add components to retail computers. Could I ad getter GPU and stuff or is the
HD all that is replaceable.

Thanks, Jason
 
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PC eye

banned
You will first need an external monitor for any desktop model or even another laptop. Take a look at the rear of your laptop to see if that comes with the vga out there to understand that the builtin display is for that or a swap over to another portable where the display has failed.

Hard drives for desktops are still 3 1/2" standard for both prebuilt and custom built systems alike. Laptops use a 2 1/2" there. The use of any ide drive will certainly work. But the only thing really lacking is the OS and prepacked programs along with the drivers for the board and other hardwares installed. Those have to be downloaded from the HP support site.
 
Maddhatter

Maddhatter

New Member
where there's a will there's a way..you can always add components to retail computers just certain companies make that task a little more frustrating than others. as far as a HD and ram goes of course you can add that a graphics card will either use AGP...PCI...or PCI express find out what slot the pc uses and you can upgrade the card. Also i got this off of CNET

"As long as your laptop has a capable graphics chipset and corresponding DVI (digital) or VGA (analog) ports, you should be able to connect to any monitor."

good luck sir
 
jasonz

jasonz

New Member
PC eye said:
Hard drives for desktops are still 3 1/2" standard for both prebuilt and custom built systems alike. Laptops use a 2 1/2" there. The use of any ide drive will certainly work. But the only thing really lacking is the OS and prepacked programs along with the drivers for the board and other hardwares installed. Those have to be downloaded from the HP support site.
Click to expand...

So I guess i will have to determine the specs on all the hardware in order to find the right drivers. I dont think thattl be to bad, but Im kinda bumbed about the moniter. Do you think i could find one at a pawn shop or something. I dont need a good one, just want to use it so I dont have to keep experimenting on my laptop. Im scared im gonna mess it up one day.
 
elitehacker

elitehacker

New Member
You know, you can pick up really cheap monitors everywhere, just check on eBay or something. Where I live people are always chucking out their old 15" CRT monitors all the time. Regarding your hard drive, just go down to your local computer store and get one, and whack it in, it doesn't matter if your PC is branded or not, it will still work, they all have the same standards.
 
jasonz

jasonz

New Member
yea, im not worried about the HDD, im sure i can find a decent cheap one somewhere, heck even walmart. I just wish i could find an old moniter somewhere.
 
elitehacker

elitehacker

New Member
They are everywhere here in Australia, I found two 19" flat screen ones :D which I'm using in a dual config at the moment. :D
 
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PC eye

banned
Even lcds have dropped down in price depending on vendor. You used to pay some $300 just for a 15" while now you can grab a 19" for about $200. The crts are found for less then $100 at newegg and other online vendors. A local repair shop usually will have a few used models lying around.

The main problem seen on older prebuilt desktops was emphasized by Dell with their own bolt pattern on the old models for installing "their own" replacement supplies only. HP like Dell and others won't specify brand or type when listing memory by number and speed only. Plan on value ram there. For many prebuilts at this time the drive goes into a cage rather then simply slide into a slot where you have to take both side covers off to secure them. The cages themselves are taken out where you mount the drive while that is outside of the case. Just one extra step there.
 
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Deepblue

New Member
jasonz said:
yea, im not worried about the HDD, im sure i can find a decent cheap one somewhere, heck even walmart. I just wish i could find an old moniter somewhere.
Click to expand...

you can find a old monitor at your local mom and pop computer store
I bet you could get a 15" crt for 25 bucks or so.

If the HP is a tower it is almost as upgradeable as anyother it will have limits
on the number of ram slots and the max ram but other then that they are not bad systems, now if you have one of those pizza box looking desktop system
you are very limited on the number of cards and i would bet it has no PCI-E or AGP slot.
 
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PC eye

banned
I wouldn't spend alot there. Check the repair shops for a used monitor and a small drive like a 40gb. At this point that would be a good Linux case only except for running an older version of Windows like 98-ME.
 
jasonz

jasonz

New Member
well, i've emailed several local computer stores and im head to some pawn shops right now. When i start a real build i will definately look at something better. Right now, im really poor(though i just got a lot better job and am making some money) so this is more of something to do over the summer that wont cost much.
 
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PC eye

banned
The best to do there is save some money in case the new job falls out on you and look at pawnshops or ask around for a used crt where someone bought a new lcd. Once you get situated and have the spare cash you can look into better things.
 
jasonz

jasonz

New Member
The best thing i have found so far was a 17" crt in pretty good condition at a local computer store. They had like 6 for $45 each. All the lcd are expensive at pawn shops. One had what i think was a 15" for $89 and a 17 or 19 for like 139. Not sure what i wanna do. Wish i had a lot of money.
 
ceewi1

ceewi1

VIP Member
Computer Swapmeets? They're everywhere around here, and you can pick up various second hand monitors at really cheap prices.
 
elitehacker

elitehacker

New Member
I wouldn't recommend you picking up second hand hard drives though, it would make more sense to just go get a new one, they are so cheap. A 500GB SATA2 hard drive is only $AU165 here.
 
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