Best laptop upgrade Dell

[Timeismoney08]

Hey,
what do yall think would be the most beneficiary upgrade for a Dell Inspiron 600m.
It has windows Xp service pack 3
a centrino 1.6ghz cpu
512mb of ram
and 60gb hard drive

what of these things would help the most upgrading for running rslogix 500/5000, factory talk, and some automation direct programs?

 

[Paullys50]

A trip to the dumpster, that thing has to be 8+ years old!

There is nothing you can do to that to make it any better than what it is. Sure you could toss money at extra ram, but that's about it. An SSD drive would be nice, IF the motherboard could actually handle the speeds.

If you still NEED laptop with a serial port and PCMCIA slot on the CHEAP, pickup a used late model Dell D830, Dell M4300 or Dell E5510.

 

[Mike_RH]

For a small amount of money, I would go with more RAM and a solid state drive (SSD). Or for only slight;y more - a newer notebook.

 

[Ken Roach]

I agree that 2 GB of RAM is the best bang for your buck.

I'm spoiled by the SSD in my Precision M4500, but then it has a several-generations-faster CPU as well.

As has been discussed, reconditioned Dell Latitudes can be bought at very low prices because they were so popular as corporate standard computers. My teenage nephew has managed not to destroy his D620 despite remarkable abuse.

 

[Contr_Conn]

D600 may be little old and slow, but I am still using D610 in my garage for DIY CNC machine
With 2GB of RAM it's running LINUXCNC for few years now.

Now I am thinking to get a spare one in case it dies

If somebody wants to trash an old D610 then let me know - it may find a new home here

 

[uptown47]

I have personally been avoiding Dells over the last year or two as I've found that I've had problems with their chargers. The computer refuses to charge as it thinks the power adaptor isn't a 'dell' one (even though it is). Apparently this is a really common fault (something to do with the pin inside the power plug not connecting with the pin on the motherboard).

I've also had issues with the power socket coming away from the motherboard (not through abuse - just through normal usage).

I think they've taken a hit in quality in recent years (although they might have sorted it now - as I said I haven't bought one in the last year or two).

Just my tuppence worth in case you're in the market for a new laptop.

;-)

 

[Operaghost]

RAM is usually the best low cost upgrade. Usually, but not here.

That old of a machine is going to use older RAM. It uses DDR. Not DDR2 or DDR3, but the old style DDR. Dell's website will be happy to sell you 2GB of RAM, but it's going to cost $145.

For less than that, you can add a 120GB SSD hard drive. But, your computer will still be choked with only having 512MB of RAM. Another 512MB would be about $40. But now you are probably looking at around a $150 investment and you still have an older laptop. Hunt around on eBay and you can find a good deal on a D630. It uses DDR2 which is still a little more expensive than DDR3, but it can handle 8GB and up to a 1TB drive. I ran Win7 64-bit on one of these without issue.

For example this one:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/DELL-Latitu...04080336?pt=Laptops_Nov05&hash=item46095202d0

I use that as an example only!! Please do not consider that an endorsement for that seller or that item. I am not the seller either. But I see the seller sold a previous D630 for $94 and received good feedback on it. I simply typed "Dell D630" in the search field on eBay and that was the first result.

OG

 

[Contr_Conn]

Warning about SSD drives and old laptops
Most of old laptops use PATA harddrives and all SSD harddrives are SATA. Check your old drive before going to SSD

 

[Operaghost]

Nice catch. The 600m does indeed use PATA. I'm afraid an SSD drive is not compatible with your system.

OG