Are laptops just as easy to upgrade?

flame1117

banned
Are laptops just as easy to upgrade as a desktop? I want to get my first laptop, something old and used then slowly upgrade it. because i could really use on soon,but dont have alot of cash right now.Are they hard or easyer to upgrade then a desttop and by how much?

Also do you think I would be able to get one for under 200$? used.
 

NeuromancerWGDD'U

New Member
I once had a laptop. I've been opening up PC's for many years now, and I find it difficult to work easily in micro-ATX systems, but for some reason, I decided that it'd be easy to futz around in a laptop. It didn't work at the time, so I dilligently went to the task of making it work. I wanted to upgrade it, but found out real fast that, as far as opening them up for upgrades go, they're total bitches. I eventually, while trying to figure out how to access the bit I needed, snapped something. I've not yet been able to determine what I snapped first seeing as frustration ultimately brought me to the point of hammer+crappy-laptop=wirey mess. I'm just glad it didn't work when I got it, because it really didn't work afterwards. Bottom line, as far as I'm concerned, Laptops are something to be bought, not built or upgraded. Portable, but from my experience, impossible.
 

apj101

VIP Member
it is a matter of what you intend to upgrade. Some things such as the ram are easy, you dont even need to open it up.

NeuromancerWGDD'U is right in that laptops can be a bugger to open, they have screws EVERY where and you really do need to take your time and find a maual as to open it. Once open you should be able to take it apart peice by peice, the hard drive will be easy to replace, as will the cd drive (if you get one designed for you model laptop), upgrading the cpu can be a really bugger to upgrade and again you need the documentation. As for graphic - well i'm not sure i think most are integrated.

Laptops are much more fiddly and overall harder to upgrade but if you make sure all your bits are compatible, and dont intend to upgrade every five minutes then it should be ok. But thy has been warned
 

Scrat

New Member
Yup... its like buying a desktop or tower that has everything "on-board" so you have to replace the entire motherboard in order to change a graphics card etc... and thats provided you can get the MB out in the first place and then manage to somehow find another MB that just happens to fit in that exact shape n size.
The only things that i know you could replace easily are posibly the CPU. The RAM normaly has a special access panel under the keyboard or underneath the laptop expecialy so you can change it(motherboard may have a limit to how much memory it can handle).
Also the HDD will usualy be the same deal as the RAM, but again the BIOS may not work with drives over a certant size.
The CD drives are sometimes removable(so can be swaped out for a floppy drive) and in this style would prob be able to put one in from next model up.... if same dimentions and drivers compatable.

So in all... i'd recomend saving for one that actualy has the specs you want.
 

flame1117

banned
well crap. the things i would want to upgrade, is CPU, RAM and gaphics card, and possibly a HD but i might just use an extra exteneral.and for theram i would want DDR so i might need to upgrade the mobo and just crap.I guess i will just be saving for a while and just dealing with it....
 

speedyink

VIP Member
RAM is easy to upgrade, and the hard drive as long as its made for the laptop is also easy. But unfortunaly laptops just werent built to be upgraded(except for RAM).
 

supersly_jones

New Member
its actually starting to change a little bit...hp in there zd models are using pci express so that means you can switch your graphics card out for another pci express compatible card....
 
supersly_jones said:
its actually starting to change a little bit...hp in there zd models are using pci express so that means you can switch your graphics card out for another pci express compatible card....

Can you really upgrade the graphics cards on these machines? I don't think so, but i don't own one. You would need to get the graphics card from the oem, or could you just stick anything in?
Roger
 

tomb08uk

New Member
If you are considering of wanting to upgrade a system, then purchase a desktop pc as alot easier to upgrade and cheaper....though if needs to be portable then very limted to upgrades and i would attempot tp upgrade as end up causing problems.
 
Negative, just cause it's pci-express doesn't mean you can just stick it into your notebook... Can you prove your claim? I know what is pci-express and I'm not new to computer forums! I don't think you can fit any card, but the choices the manufacturer gave you.
 

NeuromancerWGDD'U

New Member
That would make sense. In the one I opened there was barely room for the CD drive, I severely doubt that they'd make laptops with PCI-E or AGP slots (I've never seen any video card that claims to be compact enough to fit in a laptop, and I don't think there'd be enough space in a laptop for a card anyway)
 
read carefully. If you bought the notebook because you THINK you can upgrade the gfx easily, you're wrong... It states that the motherboard is pci-express capable, but the only expansion slot is are regular notebook slots and a new expresscard slot which is based on pci-express, which isn't used for graphics cards currently, but might be in the future, but i really don't think so. It's similar to a pci-express x4 slot or x1 slot, where it'll be for peripherals such as new wireless cards, etc. Expresscard website http://www.expresscard.org/web/site/
ROger
 
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Hmm, ya i would've loved to get it. It's probably one of a few notebooks that were avilable with the high-end prescotts. But they no longer have it at 3.6Ghz...
Roger
 

Praetor

Administrator
Staff member
Are laptops just as easy to upgrade as a desktop
Absolutely not. They are getting easier perhaps but they wotn ever be as easy as dekstops

and the hard drive as long as its made for the laptop is also easy.
hehe provided its not jamed inside the chassis

APG and PCI regular are also exchangble to lol.
Actually no they arent
 

ilovefishsticks

New Member
flame1117 said:
Also do you think I would be able to get one for under 200$? used.

yes u can, if u shop around. I bought a toshiba tecra at a local(well not realy 45 min away) for $200 exact. And no laptops arent easier at all to upgrade. if u get an old one u would want to probably upgrade the processor, ram and video card.

the processor, ive heard of people soddering one in but usualy u shouldnt do it(as far as i know). the ram is easy u just slip in a chip, but the old motherboard might have a maximum of 128 megs per slot possibaly less depending on how old it is, which means not good gaming if thats wut ur looking for. The video card you can't upgrade unless u do a similar thing as the prosessor, laptops have integrated video, I have seen a thing that you put in the laptops PCMCIA slot and it comes out as a desktop's PCI slot and in that you can probably buy a pci video card.

So basicaly no you cant upgrade a laptop, u just would have to buy a new one, which can reach the $2000 range instead of $200. hope this helps :D
 

ilovefishsticks

New Member
NeuromancerWGDD'U said:
That would make sense. In the one I opened there was barely room for the CD drive, I severely doubt that they'd make laptops with PCI-E or AGP slots (I've never seen any video card that claims to be compact enough to fit in a laptop, and I don't think there'd be enough space in a laptop for a card anyway)

No they dont make them like that, u imagined correctly
 
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