IBM Thinkpad 600 Upgrade

I just bought an IBM Thinkpad 600 for word processing and general internet surfing.
I was aware that it wasn't the fasted of laptops but it was a good price, compact and i needed a laptop for mobility.
This is my first time with a laptop - i have some knowledge of desktop PCs - but as far as laptops go I'm a real beginner.
I just wondered if anyone could outline possible upgrade options that i have. I'd like to make the PC generally a bit faster. Is it possible to replace/upgrade the processor on one of these machines? - If it is then how difficult would it be to do so?
I've also been doing a bit of research and seen suggestions of increasing the RAM. Does anyone have any idea of how much difference it'd make increasing the RAM. And also how much RAM would i have to add before it made a noticeable difference?

Genuinely - any suggestions, advice or information would be greatly appreciated

Rob

 

RAM upgrade depends on how much RAM you already have, how many empty slots you have (laptops usually only have a total of 2 slots, anyhow) and how much (total) RAM the BIOS will accept.

Go to www.crucial.com and run their on-line Ram scanner. It will tell you most of the above info.

Post the info back here, and we can progress further.

Upgrading RAM, and replacing the hard drive, are about the only things you can easily do for a laptop upgrade. :cry

EVEREST will provide you with lots of info on what is inside your laptop.
(Everest Home Edition. www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=4181)

When you run EVEREST, Click on "Computer" icon, then on "Summary", then on "Report" (at top menu), then on "Quick Report Summary", down to "Plain text". Save it to a file, as whatever name you like, (maybe PCddmmyy--with ddmmyy being the current date). Then it can be posted for all to see.

PS: Scroll down the report and delete all the stuff starting with Offset, to reduce the size of the report.
Bazza

 

Okay here goes:

Crucial scan results:

Maximum Memory Capacity: 288MB
Currently Installed Memory: 0 MB
Available Memory Slots: 2
Number of Banks: 2
Dual Channel Support: No
CPU Manufacturer: GenuineIntel
CPU Family: Pentium Pro
CPU Speed: 0 MHz

I guessed the results were wrong because of the 0 results although it brought it up when i ran the online scan and also when i downloaded it and ran it locally.
As far as i'm aware there have been no previous upgrades to the laptop.

I've attached the EVEREST report which no doubt will be of more use

To Sum it up:

Motherboard:
CPU Type Mobile Intel Pentium II, 263 MHz (4 x 66)
Motherboard Name IBM 2645510
Motherboard Chipset Intel 82440BX/ZX
System Memory 128 MB (SDRAM)
BIOS Type IBM (08/21/98)

Thanks for any help!

 

Looks like you have 128 megs of RAM pre-installed on your motherboard, with 2 slots free.

Max Memory capacity of 288 megs is a bit confusing to me.
Usually it is a multiple of 64 megs, ie 256 megs, for example.
The difference of 32 megs could be your graphics card RAM.

I'm confused.confused Someone else please step in. Bazza

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As an aside, do you think that adding the extra 128MB of RAM would make a great deal of difference?

Thanks for your help Bazza

 

You're very welcome. Extra RAM helps every PC.
Make sure you get full specs on the RAM you are after, as it is old and may not be held by computer stores any more.

eBay may have some listed.
PC mom-and-pop type stores may have some second hand RAM.

Post what you need through here and some kind MG member may even donate some from one of their old PC's. Laptops are funny beasts though, and older laptop RAM is much harder to get. Bazza

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