Hi
I wonder if anyone can help. I have a Dell Inspiron 7500 with an Intel Pentium 3 processor, 601 MHZ. 128mb of RAM and Windows XP Professional. I bought this cheaply recently on EBAY just as a project to play around with. I have never worked on a laptop before so I am very new to this.
The laptop works well and is in good condition considering its age. It hasn’t been online for a few years and so has not been receiving Windows updates and looks really outdated. I haven’t tried getting it online yet. There is a faint wavery line running down the centre of the screen when it’s on and wonder if this is to do with the screen or the graphics? The screen is definitely not cracked.
I would like to know how I could improve it to the maximum possible. What processor if any, can I put in? How much memory can I go up to? Should I put in a new Windows XP if it will take it? What do I need to have a wireless connection to the desktop set up I have? Is there anything else I could do to make it good?
I would love to do this. Sorry for posing such amateur questions and thank you in advance to anyone who is willing to help me. (Simple terms please!)
Regards, Jackie
Hi
I wonder if anyone can help. I have a Dell Inspiron 7500....I bought this cheaply recently on EBAY .... There is a faint wavery line running down the centre of the screen when it’s on and wonder if this is to do with the screen or the graphics? Regards, Jackie
Hi Jackie,
That's why it was on EBAY.
As to the rest of your questions, the processor is fixeed - can't change that. RAM - you should be able to put in upto 5112MB on that model.
Also try connecting an external screen to see if the wavy line still occurs.
Hi Suspishio,
Thank you for your reply. I am not too worried with the waivery line it's very faint, but I will do as you suggest and plug another monitor in to find out if it's the screen. Thank you as well for the info about the processor and RAM at least I know how to proceed with these now.
Do you know the answers to the Windows XP question...should I go online with it and let the updates do their job or should I try installing another Windows XP again. I can get a disc if you think this is the way to go. And what do I need to go wireless with it? I have a desktop (wired) and another laptop (wireless to the desktop) but this dell laptop has no internal wireless system. And what are PC cards for, are they just an old way of storing stuff in the same way we have memory sticks these days?
Thank you very much,
Jackie
By all means let the Windows update do the job. It'll take a long time and only if it doesn't work should you consider doing a fresh install.
For wireless, just go to a PC store and buy a Belkin (e.g.) PCMCIA form factor wireless adapter and stick it into the expansion slot. Follow the install instructions and if your router is properly set up it should work straight away.
Ok thank you that's great, easy advise I think even I can follow! I will have a go at all this next week (after pay day!) and I'll let you know how I got on so please don't disappear!
Once again thank you for your help,
Jackie
The reason I know it'll go as I say is that I have a DELL Latitude C640 which is a P3 Pentium with a PCMCIA slot and up to 512MB of RAM. It runs XP Pro and uses a Belkin wireless card for the internet.
And it hasn't got a naff screen!
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