OT: Laptop upgrade

[Tim+]

Are there any laptop hardware groups still active? Looked at a couple but they seem dormant

My daughter has a cheap Lenovo laptop with a Celeron processor that she finds frustratingly slow. It?s had RAM upgrades (to 8 gig I think) and an SSD drive upgrade but this doesn?t really make up for the feeble processor. I?ve cleared out as much excess software as possible and sorted out some update issues that were hogging processor time but it?s still slow.

A search online suggests that it *doesn?t* have a socketed CPU so an easy CPU swap is out. It?s not worth splashing much dosh out on but a quick internet search suggests that whole motherboards can be had for little dosh from Alibaba. The trouble is, they seem to have so many variants it?s hard to work out what would work. Also, I don?t want a like for like replacement but an upgrade which makes it harder for someone like me unfamiliar with processor names/numbers/types.

FWIW, for anyone who can help, it?s a Lenovo G50-30, model name 80G0. Can anyone suggest a suitable upgrade board?

Tim

[Tricky Dicky]

If you are a Windows user then I would take a look at the minimum specifications for Windows 10 and if you cannot upgrade to meet those minimum specs. I think I would upgrade it with a new one. Any upgrade will have limited longevity as MS drop support for legacy software such as Windows 7 next year and I should imagine Windows 8.1 soon after.

Richard

[Chris Bartram]

Totally not worth bothering IMO. I don't know how much the board would cost you but the fuss and bother will not be worth the minimal gain. Get a new laptop.

You could perhaps try an SSD as that will give you a gain for less effort but personally I'd not bother.

That model of laptop is really getting on now. Relegate it to a home server maybe?

[Tim+]

Well, that?s a POV but doesn?t answer my questions.

Which will cost her at least hundreds of pounds. Motherboards can be had for surprisingly little money, but only If I can find the right one.

If you?d read my post you?d have seen that we?ve already done that.

If it costs me nothing but a bit of time and labour to swap the motherboard for something a bit better at little cost it seems worth a shot.

Tim

[Tim+]

It?s already running Windows 10 and motherboards look to be cheap.

Tim

[newshound]

I wouldn't bother either, I would be looking to get a "refurbished" ex-business machine, either Dell, Lenovo, or HP. See eBay, Amazon, or uk.comp.homebuilt.

[Chris Bartram]

Surprisingly cheap. Problem is, none of the processors fitted to a G50 will exactly set the world alight, and the chipsets are aging too.

Sorry, missed that.

Maybe, but I'd personally do as suggested below and get a refurb of something better. In fact, that's exactly what I intend to do; I have a similar B-series Lenovo that is now just to ancient to be bothering with- I've not gone the SSD route but did do a RAM upgrade.

[Tricky Dicky]

You do realise if your version of Windows was an OEM version you will not be able to install it once the motherboard is changed and you will have to fork out for another version.

Richard

[whisky-dave]

Have you considered that there might be a reason they are cheap ?

[The Natural Philosopher]

Try booting a live linux mint DVD.

If its fast and seems to do what she wants, install it.

[Brian Gaff (Sofa 2)]

Personally I'd ditch it and buy something more capable as you will get into driver issues even if there is a new motherboard to fit it. Most laptops are throw away these days. Single core processors just do not work well with modern software. Brian

[Brian Gaff (Sofa 2)]

Even though they now have Edge running here on windows 7. Strange but true. Brian

[Brian Gaff (Sofa 2)]

Ask yourself why they are cheap. if they are only a slight improvement its throwing good money after bad. Brian

[Brian Gaff (Sofa 2)]

He already did the ssd. I think its wise to strip it out before dumping though and stringing it on the new one as a second drive. Brian

[Brian Gaff (Sofa 2)]

I'm wondering if the architecture could cope with a multi core cpu. I have a core duo one here, but its Achilles heel is that it seems stuck at 2gig of memory. Its a dell so I ujust use it for non challenging things. A celeron though at the moment won't even run Firefox properly. Brian

[Brian Gaff (Sofa 2)]

Not been my experience with 10. Brian

[Brian Gaff (Sofa 2)]

Maybe turn it into a chromebook or run some version of linux on it. Brian

[mm0fmf]

I don't have enough minutes left in my life to waste them on something as futile as trying to upgrade a laptop. Go and buy a modern refurbished high-end business laptop and stop fannying about.

[nothanks]

Over the years I've bought several "refurbished" Lenovo laptops from

and have always been pleased with them. I'll be buying another quite soon. Standard disclaimer, no connection, etc.

[Adrian Caspersz]

You need to track down the hardware maintenance manual.

Then hit the PDF link for "Lenovo G50-30,G50-45, G50-70, Z50-70, Z50-75"

Then hit table 4 on page 74

Hundreds of motherboards to choose from, and other options. Obviously you'll not want to stray too far from what you have, as a 'gotcha' will be somewhat expensive.

Stick it on eBay and get something else, ex-corporate.

Alternatively, turn it into a Chromebook?