Computers & Electronics

Upgrade a Dell Inspiron 640m, or not

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  • Apr 19th, 2010 4:05 pm
Newbie
User avatar
May 16, 2009
37 posts
Guelph, Ontario

Upgrade a Dell Inspiron 640m, or not

Hey everyone,

As the title says, I have a Dell Inspiron 640m and it's been rather slow lately. It's been slow at loading any kind of program (firefox, msn, word, etc). At first I thought it was a dusty fan, so I cleaned it out but that didn't really do a whole lot. I also use Photoshop which of course was pretty laggy, but using a laptop fan helped a LOT with the lag. The fan doesn't solve the slowness I first described, though. One thing that also bugs me is that I'll be typing something and the computer will freeze for a second before it continues spelling out what I typed.

Here are the specs of my laptop:

- 3 years old in December
- Intel Core 2 Duo processor T5600 @ 1.83 GHz (can't upgrade)
- 1 GB ram (max 2 GB)
- 120 GB Harddrive, 83.8 GB free (max size is 160 GB, but I don't want to pay $90 for an extra 40 GB)
- Windows XP Pro SP3

additional info - I reformatted my laptop back in May, and I defrag regularly.

So, since I'd like this laptop to last the remaining 1.5 years of my degree, my question is: is it worth the upgrade from 1 GB to 2 GB? Will that actually do anything to speed things up a bit?
37 replies
Sr. Member
Nov 1, 2005
989 posts
119 upvotes
I have this same laptop and my LCD screen died.
Deal Addict
Jan 28, 2009
2013 posts
613 upvotes
Calgary
I would definitely upgrade to 2GB of ram.

You will notice a huge difference for a minimal expense.
Deal Addict
Oct 3, 2004
2363 posts
342 upvotes
Calgary
It's still a decent laptop which should be enough for most routine tasks.
I suspect the harddrive might not be in prime condition, so try running HDTune to see how well it's performing, if you see big speed variation, then it's time to get a new harddrive.(you can use the old one in an enclosure as an external harddrive).
As other have pointed, it's also a good idea to upgrade the RAM.
There is really no point upgrading to the latest hardware if you are not doing any heavy gaming or video editing.
Deal Addict
User avatar
Feb 12, 2008
4420 posts
313 upvotes
Toronto
Definitely upgrade ram. Still has life to do basic tasks required by most people.
Nothing to see here...keep looking.
Deal Addict
Oct 12, 2005
3806 posts
23 upvotes
Lots of life in your laptop. Upgrade the ram...and if you still don't like it them sell it.

It should pay at least 50% toward a "Hot Deals" laptop, or "Dell Days".
Newbie
User avatar
May 16, 2009
37 posts
Guelph, Ontario
renhui wrote: It's still a decent laptop which should be enough for most routine tasks.
I suspect the harddrive might not be in prime condition, so try running HDTune to see how well it's performing, if you see big speed variation, then it's time to get a new harddrive.(you can use the old one in an enclosure as an external harddrive).
As other have pointed, it's also a good idea to upgrade the RAM.
There is really no point upgrading to the latest hardware if you are not doing any heavy gaming or video editing.
Thanks for the HDTune suggestion! Just as you said there's a lot of speed variation. How bad do you think my harddrive's performance is, though? Better to upgrade harddrive or ram?

[IMG]http://i411.photobucket.com/albums/pp19 ... 2120BH.png[/IMG]
Sr. Member
Oct 9, 2006
715 posts
197 upvotes
GTA
Upgrade the memory. Plus consider Win7. It will feel like a new computer and it is only a $30 upgrade for students.
Newbie
User avatar
May 16, 2009
37 posts
Guelph, Ontario
isajoo wrote: It does not sound like ur hardware is the issue for the slow down.
Most new laptops have a similar type of cpu or weaker.

XP was design to run w/only 512mb of ram, so it shouldn't be slow w/1gb.

2gb of ram may help for photoshop, but regular apps in XP should be fast w/only 1gb.

I think it might be something simple.

eg.clicking on the battery icon in the taskbar and select Always On.

OR

Disabling startup apps.
eg. Antivirus scanner
What would having the battery icon set to "Always On" do?

Also, I really don't think it's startup apps that are the problem. My computer definitely isn't the fastest at starting up, and I do want to clean up startup apps, but it's slow well after start up. I'd like to clean up the running processes but I have no idea where to even start since a lot of them are named very obscure things. And I don't think there are going to be a huge amount that I can cancel.

Right now I'm leaning towards getting a new harddrive because I haven't exactly treated this one the best. I've dropped my laptop once and I used to carry it around while still on, which I didn't know wasn't good for the harddrive at the time.
Newbie
User avatar
May 16, 2009
37 posts
Guelph, Ontario
isajoo wrote: Running it in Always on or even Min. Power Mang. will allow the cpu to throttle to full 100%, other modes may only use 50%, so u could get double the performance.

If ur unsure on what startup apps to disable, just create a new user account, this is sort of the next best thing to reformatting.

I say all this because just last week our guest room XP PC started acting up the same way, start up was dead slow, even clicking on start menu would take a couple of minutes, then it would once again freeze.
I did as noted above and now the PC is running like new, boots up fast, launches apps w/in secs, internet load times went from feeling like dial-up to high-speed.
That sounds like an easier/cheaper solution than spending $100 on a harddrive. :P I'll try that out and see how it works. Thanks!
Deal Fanatic
Nov 17, 2004
7312 posts
1672 upvotes
Toronto
wow has it almost been 3 years since the Dell price error on the 640m? I too have the 640m from the Dell price error, I use it everyday, I am typing my response using my 640m.

The LCd CCFL on my screen was screwed up right from the start, it was not too bad so I lived with it. I did not even know it was a problem, I though it was an issue with windows hibernation/sleep. I replaced the ccfl myself a month ago, paid $20 for a ccfl on ebay.

Aside from the ccfl, the machine has been solid. Still alot of life left in the T56xx CPU. I thought the 640m from the Dell price error came with 2GB ram. If you only have 1 GB, adding another GB will help things out alot. Aside from that, try a clean reinstall of windows.

I am considering an SSD to breathe some new life into my laptop, I will probably wait it out until I can find something decent for ~$100.
I workout to get big so I can pickup bricks and ****.
Newbie
User avatar
May 16, 2009
37 posts
Guelph, Ontario
isajoo wrote: That is what RFD is all about, cheap and easy solutions.

Hdd is worth it if u plan to use the storage, but w/80gb+ on ur current one it does not seem like it would be worth it.

Get more RAM 1st, then see if u need the hdd after.

BTW:
If u want to test Windows 7 till June 2010 for free, register a key b4 Oct 21-22.
What you suggested worked perfectly! I created a new session, transferred all my documents/pictures/faves, deleted the old one, and everything's faster. My internet doesn't take 3 minutes to load after startup anymore (doesn't sound like a lot but it is if you're staring at the screen) and my applications load faster. I guess it was the running processes!

I'm going to skip on upgrading for now. I checked how much RAM my computer has been using and the 1 gig is sufficient for everything except photoshop.

I don't think I'll try Windows 7 until I get a new laptop in the future. I've already reformatted this thing a few times (from trying out ubuntu and screwing it up) and I'm in no mood to install another OS. Thanks for the info though!
Newbie
User avatar
May 16, 2009
37 posts
Guelph, Ontario
toalan wrote: wow has it almost been 3 years since the Dell price error on the 640m? I too have the 640m from the Dell price error, I use it everyday, I am typing my response using my 640m.

The LCd CCFL on my screen was screwed up right from the start, it was not too bad so I lived with it. I did not even know it was a problem, I though it was an issue with windows hibernation/sleep. I replaced the ccfl myself a month ago, paid $20 for a ccfl on ebay.

Aside from the ccfl, the machine has been solid. Still alot of life left in the T56xx CPU. I thought the 640m from the Dell price error came with 2GB ram. If you only have 1 GB, adding another GB will help things out alot. Aside from that, try a clean reinstall of windows.

I am considering an SSD to breathe some new life into my laptop, I will probably wait it out until I can find something decent for ~$100.
What do you mean by the Dell price error? I wasn't on RFD back then so maybe that's why I don't know. I bought my laptop on Dell Canada's website the month before Vista came out (so December of 2006). I've actually never had problems with my screen, except that it's too loose now. I wonder if that's covered under my soon-to-expire warranty.. :razz:
Deal Fanatic
Nov 17, 2004
7312 posts
1672 upvotes
Toronto
atomicspacemonkey wrote: What do you mean by the Dell price error? I wasn't on RFD back then so maybe that's why I don't know. I bought my laptop on Dell Canada's website the month before Vista came out (so December of 2006). I've actually never had problems with my screen, except that it's too loose now. I wonder if that's covered under my soon-to-expire warranty.. :razz:
IIRC, Dell had the 640m @ $649, the specs were; 6cell + 9 cell battery, 2 gb ram, T56xx, 80GB HDD, 1440x900 screen resolution. This must have been 2 years ago, at the time it was super duper hot. Even by today's standards, it would be considered quite hot.
I workout to get big so I can pickup bricks and ****.
Deal Guru
User avatar
Nov 19, 2002
12253 posts
858 upvotes
toalan wrote: IIRC, Dell had the 640m @ $649, the specs were; 6cell + 9 cell battery, 2 gb ram, T56xx, 80GB HDD, 1440x900 screen resolution. This must have been 2 years ago, at the time it was super duper hot. Even by today's standards, it would be considered quite hot.
I am posting on the same machine right now :)

The only upgrade I made was to the HD - I threw in a bigger 7200RPM drive. My 9 cell battery finally started to lose charge so I switched to the 6 cell a while ago. Fantastic computer, still lots of life left.
Sr. Member
Nov 1, 2005
989 posts
119 upvotes
toalan wrote: wow has it almost been 3 years since the Dell price error on the 640m? I too have the 640m from the Dell price error, I use it everyday, I am typing my response using my 640m.

The LCd CCFL on my screen was screwed up right from the start, it was not too bad so I lived with it. I did not even know it was a problem, I though it was an issue with windows hibernation/sleep. I replaced the ccfl myself a month ago, paid $20 for a ccfl on ebay.

Aside from the ccfl, the machine has been solid. Still alot of life left in the T56xx CPU. I thought the 640m from the Dell price error came with 2GB ram. If you only have 1 GB, adding another GB will help things out alot. Aside from that, try a clean reinstall of windows.

I am considering an SSD to breathe some new life into my laptop, I will probably wait it out until I can find something decent for ~$100.

For the month before the screen died on my laptop it would flicker on / off and then turn on. Finally after a little bit of flickering the screen just stayed off. Do you think replacing the ccfl would fix this? What is involved in replacing the CCFL?

Thx.
Deal Guru
User avatar
Nov 19, 2002
12253 posts
858 upvotes
Can you see ANYTHING on the screen? You say it "died" but if it's just the CFL or inverter (my guess) you should be able to just barely make out what's on the screen.

I would replace the inverter first, as it's a) cheap, b) easy, and c) a common problem. I grabbed one off ebay for $12 for a 17" Inspiron, and it took just a few minutes to replace.

Replacing the tub itself is a pain in the butt. I had to do that once as well, and I think it took about an hour, and some careful work keeping the shield etc. in place and intact. If you buy a CFL kit off of ebay, there will likely be decent instructions with it.
Deal Fanatic
Nov 17, 2004
7312 posts
1672 upvotes
Toronto
JuGGERNAUT wrote: For the month before the screen died on my laptop it would flicker on / off and then turn on. Finally after a little bit of flickering the screen just stayed off. Do you think replacing the ccfl would fix this? What is involved in replacing the CCFL?

Thx.

That was my symptoms, except it lasted for 1.5 years before it gave up the ghost.

Replacing the ccfl is alot of work. you have to take the layers of the lcd panel apart. I left smudges and dust in between the layers, I should have used gloves. Better some smudges and dust on the screen than a dead ccfl.

I have to caution people that, it can be quite dangerous changing the ccfl. The first time I did it, the soldering was not very good and the wiring went up in flames.

Edit: Did one of the bottom corners go "dark" and get very hot? If so then that is classic ccfl failure

Regards,

Alan To
I workout to get big so I can pickup bricks and ****.
Sr. Member
Nov 30, 2003
511 posts
79 upvotes
Edmonton
atomicspacemonkey wrote: Here are the specs of my laptop:

- 3 years old in December
- Intel Core 2 Duo processor T5600 @ 1.83 GHz (can't upgrade)
- 1 GB ram (max 2 GB)
- 120 GB Harddrive, 83.8 GB free (max size is 160 GB, but I don't want to pay $90 for an extra 40 GB)
- Windows XP Pro SP3
While those may be the listed max capacity for ram and hard drive I'm sure your laptop's chipset can handle at least 3GB of DDR2 ram and 500GB SATA drives.

I've got a Latitude D620 that uses the same Intel 945 chipset and I've upgraded from 512MB ram/120GB HD to 3.3GB ram/500GB HD.

Here's a thread where ppl have upgraded their 640m's past the listed max.
Newbie
User avatar
May 16, 2009
37 posts
Guelph, Ontario
Just thought I would update saying that my laptop is back to being the way it was before. The wireless internet takes a few minutes to load and the applications are a bit slower to load as well. Gah!
lazybum131 wrote: While those may be the listed max capacity for ram and hard drive I'm sure your laptop's chipset can handle at least 3GB of DDR2 ram and 500GB SATA drives.

I've got a Latitude D620 that uses the same Intel 945 chipset and I've upgraded from 512MB ram/120GB HD to 3.3GB ram/500GB HD.

Here's a thread where ppl have upgraded their 640m's past the listed max.
Thanks for the thread. I'll consider that if I end up upgrading. (:
isajoo wrote: Glad it worked out for u.


U don't need to remove XP to try windows 7, I'm dual booting on my EeePC 1000H, just make a separate partitions(between 20-40gb) in XP, then install W7 on to that partition, u don't even need to burn a dvd if u don't want to, just run the setup.exe straight from the hdd.

U'll need to d/l a beta/rc W7 iso from any torrent site(google search), then once installed, get a registration key from the link below.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/window ... nload.aspx

U still got 3 more days to decide.
Oh I know, but when I tried Ubuntu something didn't quite work and it messed up my Windows XP portion so I ended up having to reformat. I've reformatted this thing too many times (it's a big pain) so I'd rather just stick to having one single OS. I like it better that way, anyway.

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