So you want to buy a new laptop but don't have the money to shell out for the price tag that they want. Don't worry you can upgrade your laptop piece by piece and make that older laptop run almost like new.
Ok so there are a few ways to get a faster and better machine. These steps don't all have to be done all at once, you can do them over weeks, months, or even years. I would suggest that if you don't know how to do these things to find a computer repair person to assist you with this. There are also videos online that can show you how to do this too.
So the first BIG one to upgrade is the RAM. RAM stands for Random Access Memory. This is the memory that the computer uses to boot the computer and it's ability to keep multiple programs open at once. This hardware upgrade you will want to be very carefull with. If you shock the RAM you could harm it and you would be out of that money. Check with your laptop manufacturer to see what kind of RAM your laptop takes. Most laptops can handle having an extra 1-4 Gigs added to it above what came with your system. If your computer has been built in the last few years it should be pretty cheap to find RAM. A word of warning, Don't buy RAM from your manufacturer. They will almost all ways have their costs marked up. Check with online retailers, and local stores in your area.
The next biggest thing to upgrade is the Hard Drive. This is a pretty easy upgrade but it will require you to reinstall ALL the programs that you have installed on your computer. When upgrading your computer there are at least 2 different options that you have with the hard drives. One is to get a traditional hard drive. This technology uses discs to write your data to the hard drive. The newest technology is Solid State Drive (SSD) that uses a SATA connection. This technology uses NO moving parts. Most laptops that have been produced in the past 2-3 years have started to use technology like this. You can check with the manufacturer of your laptop to see if they used SATA or if they used IDE (older technology). You can get an SSD drive for IDE but it will cost you alot more. SSD technology over all will run you a bit. For 64 Gig hard drive you are prob looking around $80ish for the drive and what ever it would cost to have it put in.
The third biggest part to upgrade would be the battery. I see these go out ALL the time. They can last for months or even years. There is no way to tell how long your battery will last but I would suggest that you purchase a battery as soon as you notice that the battery is not holding a charge. Most batteries will hold a charge for about 1.5-2 hours. Some netbooks I have seen hold charges at long as 5-6 hours. This time will vary depending on what you are doing and what hardware and applications are running.
When all is said and done you are prob looking in the area of about 100-175 per upgrade. The battery will be your cheapest solution, with prices anywhere from $30-100. This price depends on how many "cells" that you want your battery to have. The more the cells the longer your battery will last.
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