Ok, so my laptop is showing its signs of age and needs to be upgraded. I have an HP dv7-1175nr Seen here: http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/hp-pavilion-dv7-1175nr/4507-3121_7-33360957.html?tag=mncolBtm;rnav I really only use this computer for internet and school. I have games installed but that is not very important. Since Windows 7 Professional is only $29.99 for students now, its time to get rid of Vista. My plan is to make a recovery CD. Remove all files, folders, etc I need and and take out the HDD. I want to put in an SSD, reinstall Vista, and upgrade to Windows 7 Pro. Take the old HDD from laptop and make it a portable drive IF possible. What I need from the knowledgeable people here on BT. 1) Can this laptop take an SSD??? I am assuming if yes, It will be SATA II(I hope ) 2) What would be the best SSD to get for this laptop that will be used daily. I don't need anything bigger then 200GB. With a fresh install I am expecting to see 160GB after windows install and updated. This would be more then enough to put any program I would need for school as well as a game or two. 3) RAM needs to go up to 8GB. Not a big deal but if anyone would like to recommend what they think would be best I would love to hear it. 4) Would like a better video card but it no way is this necessary. I like to have SC2 around for when I get bored 5) Can CPU be upgraded and would it be worth it? This is the last thing on my mind but thought I would just throw it in. Final Question. If SSD and RAM is upgraded, can I expect to see a big difference in performance? Load time feels like forever on this thing lol Thank you to anyone who takes the time to read this and anyone who replies. Feel free to add anything you you feel I left out.
id get a cheapy ssd for that and youd prob think it was a different laptop. Id leave the cpu, its prob fine for most tasks. In the same position myself.
trying to make it future proof for the next couple years. Also hoping that with an SSD I might see slightly longer batter life. Running a program like MS Word, I get like 2 hour battery life at most. But I also expected this as I chose to go with a 17'' screen.
1. It can take an SSD 2. I dumped a new Crucial 128GB C300 into my Samsung Q330 laptop based on the good reviews and it absolutely flies, either this or the 256GB version are great and Crucial have recently released new models for both so the earlier ones may be down in price now. However as mentioned you might be better off moneywise on a cheaper model than those. As for increasing battery life using an SSD, I was of the same opinion however Tom's Hardware released the below which contradicted my ideas: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ssd-hdd-battery,1955.html 8GB ram is overkill and you won't see a performance increase from 4GB based on your current use Otherwise when you get the SSD, there are loads of posts from people making recommendations on how best to set them up, i.e. turning off hibernation, page file, etc. Eg, http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?t=196558
A 200GB SSD will cost you $300-400, so you might consider simply getting a new notebook for $600 with better and more powerefficient hardware overall, instead of trying to upgrade your current machine. EDIT: Seeing that you have an desktop aswell, a 14" notebook with new Core i3-CPU and HD300 graphics, like the HP ProBook 4430s would be the best solution actually to carry around.
