Upgrading an old crap-top... what are my limits?

[The VCR King]

I have an older Gateway MT6730 laptop, and I want to throw in some upgrades to make it not so crap-toppy. I was told that the ram limit is 2GB, but I want verification on that. My questions are:
1. What is the largest size HDD the bios will allow me to put in?
2. Can I upgrade from the 2GB of ram it already has?
3. I WILL replace the battery because it doesn't hold a charge. Does the number of cells matter, because I've seen 6-cell, 8, and 12-cell batteries on Amazon.
4. If none of this is possible, where can I cash in the stupid thing and then use the money toward a REAL gaming laptop?

 

[johnb35]

Max ram is only 2gb. Its not worth putting money into this. Sell it for $50 max.

 

[beers]

There are $200 laptops at best buy that would thrash whatever this laptop could be.

I have a similar one, a socket M MX6959. C2Ds are pretty cheap now such as the T7200. If you actually want to play games though, 'fogettaboutit'. Intel GMA is the worst. By the time you buy a CPU, RAM and Battery you're both halfway to a new laptop and still stuck with an old worn out everything else.

 

[Geoff]

1. What is the largest size HDD the bios will allow me to put in?

That depends on the interface, is it IDE or SATA? You should be able to put in any size drive as long as it's the correct interface and you are running at least XP SP3 on it.

2. Can I upgrade from the 2GB of ram it already has?

If it only supports 2GB, you can't upgrade it past 2GB.

3. I WILL replace the battery because it doesn't hold a charge. Does the number of cells matter, because I've seen 6-cell, 8, and 12-cell batteries on Amazon.

The larger the battery, the longer it lasts. Make sure you are looking at batteries that fit your model laptop, as they are all different.

4. If none of this is possible, where can I cash in the stupid thing and then use the money toward a REAL gaming laptop?

Upgrading a laptop is very limiting, generally you can only upgrade the RAM and hard drive, the processor, onboard video, etc. would still remain the bottleneck. You can try listing it on Craigslist, as anything online would likely yield very little to no money as you'd have to pay to ship it, and if sold on eBay you'd have eBay and PayPal fees.

 

[The VCR King]

That depends on the interface, is it IDE or SATA? You should be able to put in any size drive as long as it's the correct interface and you are running at least XP SP3 on it.

It's 2.5-inch Sata, and I upgraded it to Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 a few months ago.

If it only supports 2GB, you can't upgrade it past 2GB.
The larger the battery, the longer it lasts. Make sure you are looking at batteries that fit your model laptop, as they are all different.

I thought too many cells could fry the motherboard though.

Upgrading a laptop is very limiting, generally you can only upgrade the RAM and hard drive, the processor, onboard video, etc. would still remain the bottleneck. You can try listing it on Craigslist, as anything online would likely yield very little to no money as you'd have to pay to ship it, and if sold on eBay you'd have eBay and PayPal fees.

I might just wipe the HDD and sold it as-is at the family garage sale next spring.

There are $200 laptops at best buy that would thrash whatever this laptop could be.

I have a similar one, a socket M MX6959. C2Ds are pretty cheap now such as the T7200. If you actually want to play games though, 'fogettaboutit'. Intel GMA is the worst. By the time you buy a CPU, RAM and Battery you're both halfway to a new laptop and still stuck with an old worn out everything else.

This laptop sucks for games. I tried running TF2 on it and I overloaded the ram and got it running so hot the heatsink visibly warped downward.

Are there laptops with AMD video/processors?

 

[Geoff]

I thought too many cells could fry the motherboard though.

The battery has the same voltage and amperage regardless, it just has a higher capacity. This is again, assuming that it's the correct battery for your laptop.

 

[spirit]

My advice to you is think about what you really want to spend your money on and stop spending money on old stuff. I don't think there's any point upgrading this - just save for a new laptop.

As for 'cashing it in', you'll be lucky if you get anything for it. Try selling it as spares/repairs on eBay perhaps.

 

[pane-free]

The simplest, most practical upgrade for this old laptop is to upgrade the OS to a minimal GNU/Linux distribution like LinuxLite or HandyLinux.

Windows purposely leaves old hardware behind to molder and die. Linux revives old hardware (if one is willing to conquer a learning curve and begin thinking differently, one is rewarded with a free, more powerful OS!).

So goes my rant . . . Happy New Year!
Go Ducks!

 

[Okedokey]

The simplest, most practical upgrade for this old laptop is to upgrade the OS to a minimal GNU/Linux distribution like LinuxLite or HandyLinux.

Windows purposely leaves old hardware behind to molder and die. Linux revives old hardware (if one is willing to conquer a learning curve and begin thinking differently, one is rewarded with a free, more powerful OS!).

So goes my rant . . . Happy New Year!
Go Ducks!

Nonsense. Windows 7 and 8 are perfectly fine and have a very low footprint on older machines. And how on earth is it more powerful? Actually forget it, Im not wanting to thread-jack this however thats complete bs. No other OS in the world is more powerful than Windows due to its hardware compatibility and application library.

He can also put Windows 10 on there for free.

 

[pane-free]

Take it or leave it -- I don't care. I'm talking to the OP.
@ others: What you think of me is none of my concern.
Try it before you knock it.

 

[Okedokey]

Take it or leave it -- I don't care. I'm talking to the OP.
@ others: What you think of me is none of my concern.
Try it before you knock it.

You're allowed your own opinions, not your on facts mate.

 

[pane-free]

Which distros has anyone commenting so far tried for more than two weeks?
How about tweaking the Win Registry manually to get the OS to do what is desired -- has anyone done that, of late?

When I was in my thirties, I thought I knew everything. Turned out I was wrong!

Happy New Year and to this thread, "Good 'Bye!"

 

[beers]

When I was in my thirties, I thought I knew everything. Turned out I was wrong!

It sounds like you still are. I can barely trust the OP to find the power button on a PC and you're suggesting he uses Linux?

From a general standpoint, a personal preference of OS does not also constitute as an objective system upgrade.