Your notebook may be old, but that doesn't mean its days are numbered. We'll show you how to breathe new life into your portable by opening the hood and upgrading some basic components.
Want better performance from your laptop? The conventional wisdom has long held that you should simply buy a new one. You can put such conventional wisdom aside: Upgrading a laptop may not be for the timid or the impatient, but if you're handy with a screwdriver, and the sight of a circuit board doesn't scare you, an upgrade can be a far more affordable solution.
We took tools to hand and worked our way through eight common (and not so common) laptop upgrades, in some instances stripping our test machines--a Dell Inspiron E1505 and a Dell Inspiron 6000--down to the bare chassis. We can't fit complete step-by-step, unscrew-this-and-unplug-that instructions for everything into this article, but we can provide tips to help with each process.
And note that every laptop varies: Even machines from the same vendor can have very different designs and therefore wildly different disassembly methods.
Before you start, keep these essential points in mind:
* Many of these upgrades will void your laptop's warranty.
* Some upgrades can damage your laptop. If you are at all uncomfortable with such tinkering, leave it to a pro.
* Most vendors provide disassembly instructions in their products' service manuals, which can usually be found on their Web sites' support sections.
* Unplug your laptop and remove the battery before attempting any upgrade. Also, to avoid damage from static electricity, use a grounded wrist strap.
* You'll need a collection of small screwdrivers, including flathead, Phillips, and possibly even Torx.
* Speaking of screws, keep them organized as you remove them. We like to use Dixie cups for each step. Just write "LCD assembly" or "keyboard" or whatever on each cup as you go, to help you remember which screws go where.
* Pay special attention to wiring. Laptops have intricate channels where the wiring must run; stray wiring may get pinched or may prevent other parts from fitting together correctly.
* No matter what machine you're working on, first upgrade your BIOS. You'll need up-to-date BIOS code to support many newer components.
* Not every laptop component can be upgraded. Some may be soldered or otherwise permanently attached
Article from http://www.pcworld.com/article/148945/stepbystep_5_laptop_upgrades_you_can_do_yourself.html
Showing posts with label dell inspiron 6000. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dell inspiron 6000. Show all posts
7/02/2008
Dell Inspiron 6000
An extremely high native resolution of 1920 by 1200 helps this Dell notebook stand out from the crowd.
You can see more on the Dell Inspiron 6000's wide screen than on most other 15.4-inch displays thanks to its WUXGA resolution of 1920 by 1200 pixels. In fact, you can work with higher-resolution photographs, more spreadsheet columns, and more tiled documents simultaneously on the Inspiron 6000 than you can on some 17-inch wide screens. (The Inspiron 6000 is also available with a 1280-by-800-pixel WXGA screen or a 1680-by-1050-pixel WSXGA+ screen for $150 less or $50 less, respectively.)
This 6000 has a lot more going for it than just its extra-high-resolution screen. We didn't test the 6000's standard six-cell battery; but we did test the nine-cell battery (a $99 option), and it lasted an impressive 5 hours and 7 minutes on one charge, making the 6000 an excellent candidate for the road--if you don't mind its 7.5-pound weight (sans power adapter). An extra-fancy external power gauge helps you keep track of when you'll need to recharge. It's also a good idea to get a Dell inspiron 6000 battery for replacement or backup.
The Inspiron 6000 is a smoothly designed, handsome laptop with a sloped front and cream-colored trim. Our unit had a multiformat DVD burner, plus FireWire and TV-out ports and four USB 2.0 ports, all placed for easy use. The 6000 accepts user upgrades easily. Like many laptops, it has two memory slots located in a compartment on the bottom of the laptop. But instead of residing in dovetailed slots, the modules lie side by side--an unusual arrangement that makes them more accessible than most. The hard drive is a breeze to remove, too: Just unscrew its bottom panel and tug the drive out through the right side of the case. Though the optical drive doesn't have a lever for popping it out, you can boost it out by its lower edge after removing a security screw on the bottom of the case.
The 6000 disappointed us in only a few areas. We missed having an external switch for controlling Wi-Fi scanning (you have to use a software utility instead). And the 6000's memory card reader accepts only Secure Digital cards for exchanging data with PDAs, cameras, and other digital equipment, leaving Memory Sticks, CompactFlash cards, and other media incompatible.
Our biggest reservation, however, relates to the Inspiron's keyboard. The layout is typical of a Dell portable--well designed and roomy--except that is buried in a cluster of -size keys. Two big, easy-to-press mouse buttons complement the touchpad. But the keys on our test unit were so stiff initially that we had to type forcefully. As we continued to type, the keyboard seemed to limber up, and we made fewer mistakes. But we still felt that we had to type more carefully than usual, not a good omen for a long-term relationship with a keyboard. If possible, try out the keyboard before buying.
You'll like the 6000's panel of dedicated CD controls and its surprisingly good stereo sound. (Only one other model in our roundup, the Fujitsu LifeBook N6010, offered better audio.) There's no instant-on button for playing discs without using Windows, but you can play CDs while the lid is closed, because the music buttons and speaker outlets remain exposed. Pressing one of the buttons momentarily lights the entire music panel's bright blue LEDs, a helpful feature in dark environments.
The 2-GHz Pentium M 760-equipped review unit did well in our speed tests, earning a WorldBench 5 score of 89, about 8 percent above the average for systems equipped with the same processor.
An Acrobat manual on the hard drive covers the 6000 thoroughly, right down to coverage of how to install new screen hinges and a new keyboard.
Upshot: With its extra-high-resolution screen and terrific built-in speakers, the Inspiron 6000 would be ideal for getting work done or watching movies.
Trackback: http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,120201-page,1/article.html
You can see more on the Dell Inspiron 6000's wide screen than on most other 15.4-inch displays thanks to its WUXGA resolution of 1920 by 1200 pixels. In fact, you can work with higher-resolution photographs, more spreadsheet columns, and more tiled documents simultaneously on the Inspiron 6000 than you can on some 17-inch wide screens. (The Inspiron 6000 is also available with a 1280-by-800-pixel WXGA screen or a 1680-by-1050-pixel WSXGA+ screen for $150 less or $50 less, respectively.)
This 6000 has a lot more going for it than just its extra-high-resolution screen. We didn't test the 6000's standard six-cell battery; but we did test the nine-cell battery (a $99 option), and it lasted an impressive 5 hours and 7 minutes on one charge, making the 6000 an excellent candidate for the road--if you don't mind its 7.5-pound weight (sans power adapter). An extra-fancy external power gauge helps you keep track of when you'll need to recharge. It's also a good idea to get a Dell inspiron 6000 battery for replacement or backup.
The Inspiron 6000 is a smoothly designed, handsome laptop with a sloped front and cream-colored trim. Our unit had a multiformat DVD burner, plus FireWire and TV-out ports and four USB 2.0 ports, all placed for easy use. The 6000 accepts user upgrades easily. Like many laptops, it has two memory slots located in a compartment on the bottom of the laptop. But instead of residing in dovetailed slots, the modules lie side by side--an unusual arrangement that makes them more accessible than most. The hard drive is a breeze to remove, too: Just unscrew its bottom panel and tug the drive out through the right side of the case. Though the optical drive doesn't have a lever for popping it out, you can boost it out by its lower edge after removing a security screw on the bottom of the case.
The 6000 disappointed us in only a few areas. We missed having an external switch for controlling Wi-Fi scanning (you have to use a software utility instead). And the 6000's memory card reader accepts only Secure Digital cards for exchanging data with PDAs, cameras, and other digital equipment, leaving Memory Sticks, CompactFlash cards, and other media incompatible.
Our biggest reservation, however, relates to the Inspiron's keyboard. The layout is typical of a Dell portable--well designed and roomy--except that
You'll like the 6000's panel of dedicated CD controls and its surprisingly good stereo sound. (Only one other model in our roundup, the Fujitsu LifeBook N6010, offered better audio.) There's no instant-on button for playing discs without using Windows, but you can play CDs while the lid is closed, because the music buttons and speaker outlets remain exposed. Pressing one of the buttons momentarily lights the entire music panel's bright blue LEDs, a helpful feature in dark environments.
The 2-GHz Pentium M 760-equipped review unit did well in our speed tests, earning a WorldBench 5 score of 89, about 8 percent above the average for systems equipped with the same processor.
An Acrobat manual on the hard drive covers the 6000 thoroughly, right down to coverage of how to install new screen hinges and a new keyboard.
Upshot: With its extra-high-resolution screen and terrific built-in speakers, the Inspiron 6000 would be ideal for getting work done or watching movies.
Trackback: http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,120201-page,1/article.html
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