Suggestions for an older Inspiron 1720

[SwampDog35]

I have an older 1720 laptop sitting around. It is currently running Vista. I would like to use it for something. Just not sure what I could do.

It is in really good shape. However it seems a bit sluggish (Compared to what it used to be).

It has a Intel Core2 Duo 2.4GHz in it with 2 gigs of RAM.


I will take any and all suggestions. Thanks for your input in advance.

Hopefully I've placed this thread in the right spot.

Thanks again.

 

[BUnit1701]

I would look at 3 upgrades for that system. And upgrade to Windows 7, an upgrade to 4GB of ram, and replace the HDD with an SSD. For basic browsing and productivity use, that should seem like it flies compared to where you are now.

 

[SwampDog35]

Thank you for your suggestion. Going to newegg right now to get prices.

 

[pauldun170]

We still use an older laptop (2007 HP DV9027us) that was sluggish under Vista.
CoreDuo (Original, not Core2) T2250@ 1.7ghz.
2 gb ram.
7600go vid card
Going to Windows 7 helped a lot.
Replacing the hdd with an SSD completely reinvigorated the laptop.
We still use it on a regular basis.

 

[NTMBK]

What everyone else said; SSD, Windows 7 or 8.1, and RAM- in that order of improvement. SSD would make the biggest difference.

 

[Towermax]

I've got a couple of Dell Latitudes (D630 and D830) from the same era. SSD, 4GB RAM, and Windows 7 made a tremendous difference. For basic use--web browsing, office, email--they now seem about as fast as my desktops.

4GB RAM alone makes a big difference--especially with Vista. Plus, you can use 2 drives in the 1720, right? So, small SSD for the OS, and a large spinner for storage, etc.

 

[jhu]

You can always plug some drives and a printer in and make it a file server/print server.

 

[nwo]

Not sure what you use it for, but I would recommend 4GB of RAM minimum to begin with, then upgrading to an SSD, and lastly upgrading the OS to windows 7 64 bit or windows 8.1 64 bit.

 

[Headfoot]

Yeah, don't bother upgrading to windows 7. Go whole hog all the way to 8.1 64-bit. It is more efficient and has more features, boots up faster too. If you don't like the Start Screen, just install Classic Shell or any of the many start menu replacement programs and get the best of both worlds.

With that + SSD + 4GB RAM it would be a perfectly usable web browsing/office work machine

 

[SwampDog35]

Thanks to everyone again that have replied. I have placed in the cart so far with Newegg $145 worth of parts.
Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB
and
CORSAIR 2GB 200-Pin DDR2 SO-DIMM DDR2 667

Thoughts? On the right track?

 

[VirtualLarry]

Thanks to everyone again that have replied. I have placed in the cart so far with Newegg $145 worth of parts.
Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB
and
CORSAIR 2GB 200-Pin DDR2 SO-DIMM DDR2 667

Thoughts? On the right track?

That SSD is a slow one, as far as SSDs go. Crucial M500 or Intel might be better.

The RAM is the right idea, but I wouldn't go ordering any until you take it apart, and see what the current config is, and how many RAM slots you have available.

Or you could go to www.crucial.com, and look at their RAM configurator. (You can also order an M500 off of the same site.)

 

[Towermax]

Thanks to everyone again that have replied. I have placed in the cart so far with Newegg $145 worth of parts.
Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB
and
CORSAIR 2GB 200-Pin DDR2 SO-DIMM DDR2 667

Thoughts? On the right track?

Unless you're in a hurry, I'd buy used. DDR2 SODIMMS turn up regularly here, on other forums, and on eBay--and they're much less expensive than Newegg. Same for SSDs.

I've bought all of my upgrades here, on Hardforum, or on eBay. Sometimes I had to wait a week or two to get what I wanted, but it was worth the wait, especially considering that these old laptops aren't worth that much to begin with.

Also, as was suggested, open the unit up and check what RAM is already in it--unless you've used CPU-Z or something similar already.

 

[Compman55]

Download a version of 64 bit windows 7 and install just as a test to make sure it works and driver support is avail. My D820 does not support 64 bit very well.

4GB ram + SSD is what you need. I did that and mine flies. The latitude D series was the last of the good ones. Although the E is acceptable the durability is not as good and will continue to get worse.

 

[sm625]

Sorry, but a 2.4GHz core 2 is going to get vastly outperformed even by a $300 pentium notebook. $300 notebooks come with 4GB of RAM these days. The only thing they dont have is a SSD. But they have much much better battery life, ie you can actually run it on the battery.

The only thing I would recommend for that notebook is a simple SSD upgrade - a used SSD like an intel X25M 80GB or even a 40GB. Any bigger investment is not viable.

 

[nwo]

Sorry, but a 2.4GHz core 2 is going to get vastly outperformed even by a $300 pentium notebook. $300 notebooks come with 4GB of RAM these days. The only thing they dont have is a SSD. But they have much much better battery life, ie you can actually run it on the battery.

The only thing I would recommend for that notebook is a simple SSD upgrade - a used SSD like an intel X25M 80GB or even a 40GB. Any bigger investment is not viable.

Do most laptops nowadays come with an available mSATA slot? Or is that still non-existing on the budget laptops?

I agree, Core 2 Duos are old as dirt. And as far as laptops go, they are much slower than their desktop counterparts. Any $300 laptop with a Pentium or even a Celeron will offer much more CPU power than any old Core 2 Duo.

 

[Towermax]

Sorry, but a 2.4GHz core 2 is going to get vastly outperformed even by a $300 pentium notebook. $300 notebooks come with 4GB of RAM these days. The only thing they dont have is a SSD. But they have much much better battery life, ie you can actually run it on the battery.

The only thing I would recommend for that notebook is a simple SSD upgrade - a used SSD like an intel X25M 80GB or even a 40GB. Any bigger investment is not viable.

Yes, but $300 notebooks don't come with 1920X1200 screens like my D830. The speed may be a bit better than the T9300 2.5 GHz C2D, but not a lot. I added 6GB ram and a 256GB SSD for $150.00 total. And I get about 2.5 hours battery life. I figure it'll last me another couple of years--then I'll buy a $300 notebook. Maybe.

 

[SwampDog35]

Any idea why I can't see the classified section? Do I need 25 or more posts?

 

[nwo]

Any idea why I can't see the classified section? Do I need 25 or more posts?

You mean the For Sale/For Trade forums?

I thought you only needed 25+ posts in order to post there. Not sure why you can't see it. Things may have changed a bit though.

 

[pyjujiop]

Sorry, but a 2.4GHz core 2 is going to get vastly outperformed even by a $300 pentium notebook. $300 notebooks come with 4GB of RAM these days. The only thing they dont have is a SSD. But they have much much better battery life, ie you can actually run it on the battery.

The only thing I would recommend for that notebook is a simple SSD upgrade - a used SSD like an intel X25M 80GB or even a 40GB. Any bigger investment is not viable.

It's still good enough. I'm still using a D830 with a 2.4 GHz T7700 with 3GB of RAM. The only real upgrade it's had has been a Momentus XT hybrid drive to speed things up a bit, and the battery gave up last winter so it got a new one. I can run it about two hours on battery, and as someone else already said, new $300 laptops don't come with 1080p screens.

The only place this D830 is going to get "vastly outperformed" by a $300 laptop is in benchmarks. In the real world, I'd rather use the D830.

 

[EliteRetard]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BQ4F9ZA

If you're still looking, here's a 120GB Crucial M500 for $70.

 

[JWade]

you can save money from getting the ram and ssd from the for sale/trade forums. definitely upgrade to win7 as well. those three will make it perform like a new laptop.

 

[SwampDog35]

I'm trying to access the for sale forum and keep getting an error message. Didn't know if there was a minimum post requirement.

 

[OCGuy]

SSD, hands down.

 

[EliteRetard]

I'm trying to access the for sale forum and keep getting an error message. Didn't know if there was a minimum post requirement.

There is, but you should be fine now...if you still cant, you can post a question in the forum issues section and the mods can take a look.

That said, I doubt you will get a better deal on the SSD, the M500 series is about the lowest end you want to go, and $70 is about the cheapest it gets. Even if you can save another $5-10 on a used one it's not worth it. SSDs wear out, and a used one won't have any warranty.

And with 3-4GB RAM Vista patched and tweaked (disable auto defrag, indexing, super fetch, etc) you don't really need a new OS.

Used RAM probably wont hurt, depends how much saving you get whether its worth it or not.The thing is, do you have 2x1GB sticks or 1x2GB stick with a free slot open? If you've got a free slot then you only need one stick, if you've got 2x1GB sticks and no free slots then you need to get 2 sticks. A used 2x2GB set will be better if you need both, but if you've got a 2GB stick now then you could by a new 1GB stick for $10.

Like this:
http://www.amazon.com/Hynix-PC2-5300...ef=pd_sxp_f_pt

3GB is O.K. for Vista 32bit, max is about 3.5GB anyway.

You should have a second HDD bay, so you can keep the stock HDD too, but you may need the adapter or even the full caddy to add another drive.

This is just the connector, no caddy...you might be fine with just this
http://www.amazon.com/Dell-1420-Inte...720+interposer

This set includes the caddy and connector
http://www.amazon.com/Eathtek-connec...720+interposer

With an SSD though there are no moving parts so you may be able to hold the drive in place with just a small square of light foam in the center to kinda squeeze it in place (don't fully cover/insulate the drive though). You can probably find these parts used as well, like on ebay and such...

 

[pw257008]

if you want a good 240GB+ SSD, best buy has the Samsung 840 Evo 250GB for 140 right now http://www.bestbuy.com/site/840-evo-...tops/1902435.p