Is my new Computer A good improvement on my old one?

R

rutgerhauer

New Member
Hi i currently have a Dell Inspiron 9100 Laptop, Windows XP Pentium 4 3 Ghz with 256 mb of RAM, it's on it's last legs so i upgraded to this one and i'm expecting it in the post very soon:

DELL LATITUDE D610

CENTRINO 1.8GHZ, 2GB RAM, 60GB HARD DISK, CDRW/DVD DRIVE, 14.1" SCREEN, WIFI, WINDOWS XP.

I only use my laptop for browsing the internet and watching movies on it, the odd time i might play some PS 1 games on it and thats it maximum.

Will this new computer mean faster browsing and a better performance??

I'm not a PC whizz so i thought i'd ask you guys.

Cheers :D
 
That depends... The D610 does have much more RAM. The meager amount of RAM in the 9100 can seriously hamper its performance.

How in the world are you living on 256MB of memory in that 9100!!?? If there aren't more serious problems with that laptop (you mention it's on its last legs, why?) I would highly recommend upgrading the RAM on it. You will be MUCH happier with the 9100's performance over the D610.
 
Last edited:
Zatharus said:
That depends... While the CPU on your new laptop is much slower than the P4 in your Inspiron, the D610 does have much more RAM. The meager amount of RAM in the 9100 can seriously hamper its performance.

How in the world are you living on 256MB of memory in that 9100!!?? If there aren't more serious problems with that laptop (you mention it's on its last legs, why?) I would highly recommend upgrading the RAM on it. You will be MUCH happier with the 9100's performance over the D610.
Click to expand...

Hi basically it's just really slow and takes sometimes a half hour to start up and things crash at random on it, browser will hang for ages etc... and the keyboard is screwed and the battery is dead. It's 3rd hand too. 256mb of ram i know, terrible. Its just never been upgraded i don't think. What would it run like on 3gb of RAM do you reckon?

Wouldn't a 1.8 Ghz Centrino just be equivilent to about 3 Ghz of a pentium 4 though??

Thanks for your help.
 
If we were talking multiple cores, then maybe. But unfortunately, despite the Centrino being newer, the big difference in speed will be noticeable.
 
Heh heh - yeah, the 256MB of RAM explains the abysmal load times. :)

The 9100 will take two 1GB 200-pin SODIMMS for 2GB max. That would be a huge usability upgrade for you. As for the battery and the keyboard, you can get replacements for both. Installing the keyboard can be a bit tricky if you want to do it yourself. I would suggest finding a local authorized dealer to do that upgrade if you aren't comfortable in taking your computer apart.

Excuse me...my original statement comparing the CPU's on your laptops was inaccurate (I will edit that out). I was thinking of a P4 vs a Celeron, not a Centrino (Pentium M) CPU. You are correct, actually the 1.8GHz Pentium M would outperform or be equal to the 3GHz P4 in most operations. With that in mind, I wouldn't bother adding RAM or fixing the keyboard in your older one unless you want to sell it.
 
Zatharus said:
Heh heh - yeah, the 256MB of RAM explains the abysmal load times. :)

The 9100 will take two 1GB 200-pin SODIMMS for 2GB max. That would be a huge usability upgrade for you. As for the battery and the keyboard, you can get replacements for both. Installing the keyboard can be a bit tricky if you want to do it yourself. I would suggest finding a local authorized dealer to do that upgrade if you aren't comfortable in taking your computer apart.

Excuse me...my original statement comparing the CPU's on your laptops was inaccurate (I will edit that out). I was thinking of a P4 vs a Celeron, not a Centrino (Pentium M) CPU. You are correct, actually the 1.8GHz Pentium M would outperform or be equal to the 3GHz P4 in most operations. With that in mind, I wouldn't bother adding RAM or fixing the keyboard in your older one unless you want to sell it.
Click to expand...

Aye the 256mb of RAM is useless alright, i'm sure when i brought it had at leas 1 Gb of RAM but i took it in to get repaired about 2 years ago and i think the dealer was a little bit dodgy (to say the least) and may have stripped the RAM away. Would this be possible, i.e: could you take RAM away from a laptop?

I would ideally have loved to just ubgraded the RAM to say 1 or 2 GB and get my hands on a Windows XP disc and give it a fresh install as i'm sure even this alone would make it alot faster? I probably will do it one day as i feel the Inspiron is wasted with 256mb of RAM.

Do you know how much it might cost to get it upgraded to 2Gb??

Thanks for clearing the Centrino thing up :D

Cheers.
 
Last edited:
rutgerhauer said:
Aye the 256mb of RAM is useless alright, i'm sure when i brought it had at leas 1 Gb of RAM but i took it in to get repaired about 2 years ago and i think the dealer was a little bit dodgy (to say the least) and may have stripped the RAM away. Would this be possible, i.e: could you take RAM away from a laptop?

I would ideally have loved to just ubgraded the RAM to say 1 or 2 GB and get my hands on a Windows XP disc and give it a fresh install as i'm sure even this alone would make it alot faster? I probably will do it one day as i feel the Inspiron is wasted with 256mb of RAM.

Do you know how much it might cost to get it upgraded to 2Gb??

Thanks for clearing the Centrino thing up, i was getting REALLY worried i'd screwed up buying it there haha! :L

Cheers.
Click to expand...


Yes you can take ram away from a computer, its pretty simple actually. Upgrading ram in a laptop is pretty simple, just take out one screw on the bottom and open a cover that says "ram", take out the old memory and put in the new. Sorry about this but im having a bit of a tough time trying to figure out which one of the laptops that u wanna upgrade the memory on?

Edit: Woot! 1,100th Post:D
 
rutgerhauer said:
Aye the 256mb of RAM is useless alright, i'm sure when i brought it had at leas 1 Gb of RAM but i took it in to get repaired about 2 years ago and i think the dealer was a little bit dodgy (to say the least) and may have stripped the RAM away. Would this be possible, i.e: could you take RAM away from a laptop?
Click to expand...

Yikes... Yeah, it can be removed. I would call that dodgy if the dealer swapped 1GB for 256MB...:(


I would ideally have loved to just ubgraded the RAM to say 1 or 2 GB and get my hands on a Windows XP disc and give it a fresh install as i'm sure even this alone would make it alot faster? I probably will do it one day as i feel the Inspiron is wasted with 256mb of RAM.

Do you know how much it might cost to get it upgraded to 2Gb??
Click to expand...
To help clear things up for bomberboysk and myself, I'm pretty sure we are talking about upgrading the Inspiron 9100, right? I am assuming so since your new one is coming with 2GB already.

Let me know which part of the world you are in so I can get you a local price for that RAM upgrade. UK?


Thanks for clearing the Centrino thing up, i was getting REALLY worried i'd screwed up buying it there haha! :L

Cheers.
Click to expand...
:D No problem... I can't believe I misread that. Your information and instincts are correct. The Pentium M was a great little chip in its day. It's still no slouch but fading fast compared with current tech.
 
Zatharus said:
Yikes... Yeah, it can be removed. I would call that dodgy if the dealer swapped 1GB for 256MB...:(


To help clear things up for bomberboysk and myself, I'm pretty sure we are talking about upgrading the Inspiron 9100, right? I am assuming so since your new one is coming with 2GB already.

Let me know which part of the world you are in so I can get you a local price for that RAM upgrade. UK?


:D No problem... I can't believe I misread that. Your information and instincts are correct. The Pentium M was a great little chip in its day. It's still no slouch but fading fast compared with current tech.
Click to expand...

Cheers mate,

Yes it's the Inspiron 9100 that i'm looking to upgrade if i can, Probably to 2gb, which i think is the highest it can be. I'm led to believe it's pretty straightforward to install RAM? I'm hoping :/ It's the uk im in.

Thanks for your help, The pentium M/Centrino seems to look like it will do what i need, i wouldn't be one for gaming on it really. Only Playstation 1 games would be as powerful as i'd use on it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top