Since People Helped Ben

[Julian Alexander]

Since some of you helped Ben in deciding which laptop to get, hehe. I need help in deciding what to get to upgrade my laptop. My laptop is a discon. line of HP pavilion family (Its a HP Pavilion zt3000).

 

Curent Specs are:

 

Hard Drive- Fujitsu MHT2040AT (which i have recenlty learned has also been dicon. in production, hehe)

Memory- I know its 512MB DDR (but i have no idea who the manufacturer is)

 

Current Budget: $200

 

I have been looking at stuff myself and found maybe a new hard drive but not the Memory yet.

 

What I need/want:

 

This is what i have choosen to be the Hard Drive replacement: TOSHIBA HDD2D08 (MK1032GAX) 100GB 5400 RPM 16MB Cache ATA-6 Notebook Hard Drive - OEM

 

I can go for 80GB-100GB

 

Memory: I want to upgrade it to 1GB

 

Jules

[Tim-n-NC]

Hey Jules,

 

Your zt3000 is still a very nice notebook, and well worth upgrading. As you've suggested, the hard drive is currently the weak link and since your 40GB Fujitsu is just a 4200RPM drive most anything will be an improvement. Unless you're very sensitive to battery life I'd go for a Seagate or Hitachi 7200RPM drive, though, as that'll yield noticably faster boots & program loads than the 5400RPM Toshiba.

 

Looks like you're shopping for parts at Newegg and they're a great choice. I've ordered from them maybe 2 dozen times and have never had a problem. Fast shipping & great prices.

This Hitachi 7K100 is what I just upgraded a friend's Inspiron 6000 with and we're very pleased with it. I've had the 60GB version in my Thinkpad for ~18 months & it's been excellent.

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16822146052

 

512MB of RAM should be plenty for WinXP unless you run applications that are memory hogs like Photoshop or you commonly have half a dozen or more aps open simultaneously. If so, 1GB is worth it, else you probably won't notice any performance improvement from it. I don't think your zt3000 supports dual-channel memory, so there's no issue with being sure to have 2 matched DIMMs installed, either.

Should you need to add memory, though, I believe you need PC2100 DDR CAS-2.5 SODIMMs (PC2700 proabably works, too).

 

In lieu of added memory you might consider adding either an internal DVD+R/W drive, or getting an external USB2 DVD+/-R/W drive for backups and movies. The chepest good option is usually an NEC ND-6750A if it will fit the zt3000 -not sure. Else you can probably find the factory DVD+R/W drive on eBay.

 

For external, NEC ND-3550A is great & USB 2.0 case (BYTECC seems to work well).

 

To mirror your current drive to the new one and for backups I like Acronis True Image -works great. $30 from Newegg.

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...82E1681279691SF

 

Of course, a new HD is a good time to consider a clean install to clean house. If you've been using a WinXP box a couple of years it's usually collected enough garbage and Registry clutter to benefit from a clean start.

 

Don't forget to keep a current Firewall/AV package updated.

-Tim

[NateB]

Hey Jules,

Just wanted to add my 2 cents...

 

I've found some awesome deals at http://www.Geeks.com

You can usually find a good refurbished HD and if you watch they have some great deals on memory every once in awhile. And yes I'll say it... try eBay, but be careful who you buy it from and what their warranties are. Never buy AS-Is computer parts, no matter how good of a deal they are.

 

-Nate

[Julian Alexander]

Thanks for the advice.

 

Currenlty i have choosen to get these (Still have to talk to a cousin who will be helping me upgrade my laptop) The List

 

The only thing i have to make sure, is that what i choose doesnt cause a over-heating issue because my video card ATI Mobility