Such thing as an Upgradable Laptop?

[Natalia]

Is there a company that produces a decent laptop that can be upgraded? Specifically the motherboard, CPU, and graphics cards?

I would love to find one that also has a screen that is 17" or greater.

Thanks for any advice or pointers. :D

[Stuey]

There used to be a few laptops that allowed for graphics upgrades, and most laptops can accept subtle CPU upgrades. However, you cannot upgrade a laptop's mobo. On one hand, there's no way that an upgrade would be compatible with the existing monitor, battery, port placement, etc. A system board is probably the single most expensive component of the laptop, so even if it were upgradeable, it would be ridiculously cost prohibitive.

You can always buy a barebones laptop and add your own CPU, HD, and ram, but it would probably be much easier to just buy an off-the-shelf product or customized configuration from Dell or wherever.

[tiro_uspsss]

mobo: never heard of
cpu: definitely, tho probably a limitation here n there
gpu: iffy, generally no; if so it would b a 'mxm' (iirc) - mxm pretty much being a gpu on its own seperate card (like a normal desktop video card - surprise surprise!) that is interchangable...

[xenoasd]

dude why u post a topic in the sale section for o.O

and definitly u cant upgrade a laptop... maybe the thermalpaste on it :P

[tiro_uspsss]

dude why u post a topic in the sale section for o.O

and definitly u cant upgrade a laptop... maybe the thermalpaste on it :P

u *definitely* can, depends what component tho

on the mxm: http://www.nvidia.com/page/mxm.html

bit a reading for ya (Natalia) :up:

[Chewbenator]

Last I heard somebody at the recent trade shows was trying to get an upgradeable modular type laptop on the market, I'll try and find the article.

Edit: Looks like it was Asus, heres some links:
http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/laptops/asus-c90-will-be-first-user-upgradeable-lappie-249934.php
http://www.engadget.com/2007/04/05/asus-c90s-whitebook-laptop-upgradeable-everything/
http://stuff.tv/News/id-6350/
http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=3616

Asus' Site:
http://www.asus.com/products4.aspx?modelmenu=2&model=1641&l1=5&l2=141&l3=536&l4=0

[bluep3ace]

five years ago I was at a computer expo in taiwan (not computex, but the other one) and a company called chaintech had a display advertising their new full size laptop, capable of holding full size components.
edit:guess they're not around much longer.

check out this page:
http://www.gen-x-pc.com/laptopmanu.htm

It lists the OEM manufacturers of laptops. Look around the internet to see if you're able to find them for sale. You'll probably need to buy the CPU, GPU, RAM, Hard drive, and CD Drive of the laptop.

All laptops are upgradeable, it's just that you'll void your warranty, and that laptops are pretty fragile things.

[.Logic]

Upgrade RAM; no problems really easy

[Corsa]

... this reinforces why i only build desktop :rolleyes:

[Stuey]

... this reinforces why i only build desktop :rolleyes:

But with a desktop you cannot surf the web while in the bathroom!

[MaxxxRacer]

DO NOT GET A LAPTOP WITH AN MXM VIDEO CARD!!!!

MXM is a good idea in theory, but the problem is that the connectors and daughterboards are so fragile that they have excessively high failure ratres.

My suggestion is to get laptop that does NOT have a dedicated video chip. Virtually all laptops with dedicated video chips have abnormally high failure rates for the video.

[ginnz]

i have an averatec that i got from a buddy for free ;-) (good buddy)

well, it had an amd 1600+ micro pga cpu, with 256 megs of ram, well it said on the wbsite the max ram it would take is 512 megs, i got a 1 gig stick, put it in and bam, it worked fine, sooo, after installing the ram, i noticed i could remove the HSF, and i did, and then i found a 2200+ micro pga athlon mobile and slapped it in, it works fine.... so upgrading this system was a piece if cake. its considerably snappier than stock. and it does the job of wireless web serfing around our house ;-)

[Khanage]

But with a desktop you cannot surf the web while in the bathroom!

thats the best part of having a laptop.

Answer to the call of nature whilst reading forums :clap: What an invention.

[tiro_uspsss]

thats the best part of having a laptop.

Answer to the call of nature whilst reading forums :clap: What an invention.

mmm.. not sure anyone wants to know what ur doing while chatting with us :p: :D


i have an averatec that i got from a buddy for free ;-) (good buddy)

well, it had an amd 1600+ micro pga cpu, with 256 megs of ram, well it said on the wbsite the max ram it would take is 512 megs, i got a 1 gig stick, put it in and bam, it worked fine, sooo, after installing the ram, i noticed i could remove the HSF, and i did, and then i found a 2200+ micro pga athlon mobile and slapped it in, it works fine.... so upgrading this system was a piece if cake. its considerably snappier than stock. and it does the job of wireless web serfing around our house ;-)

nothing like getting in there & getting ya hands 'dirty' eh?
:up: :) :yepp:

[Natalia]

This is making me sorry I asked... :o

[reflux]

Get a Dell. They're upgradeable, and because they sell so many machines, you can get hold of spare parts yourself quite easily. I personally upgraded the video card, RAM, and CPU in my Dell XPS M170.

I've heard good things about MXM - but only a few manufacturers support it, such as Asus and Fujitsu.