Upgrading Laptops RAM and Processor - Dell 1525

Video showing upgrade of a Dell Inspiron 1525 (Please remove your battery, I forgot..)

Switching the RAM from 2 to 4GB (200-pin SODIMM), The Laptop only recognizes 3.46GB as its 32bit, but that's still a decent increase.

And the 1.73Ghz Dual Core Processor to a 2.0Ghz (which I upgraded for the Intel® Virtualization not the slight speed increase). The Processors are Socket P. Compatible Processor are Intel Celeron 540, 550 or 560, Intel Pentium Dual-Core T2370, T2390, T2330 or T4200, or Intel Core 2 Duo T5250, T5450, T5550, T5750, T7250, T8100 or T8300.

I'm getting a lot of comments and messages from people asking for advice on upgrading their (non Dell 1525) Laptops. Unfortunatly I cannot answer specific questions not related to the 1525 as thats all I own.

BUT, here is a message I sent to someone with an example of the process I used to determine what I could upgrade too.

"You'll have to do some research to see what processors the physical connection (called a socket) is compatible with, then you'll have to check and see what the software (BIOS/Motherboard) is compatible with.

The easiest way is to just google and see what other people have done.

I googled "dell M5010" upgrade and found this thread -

http://forum.notebookreview.com/hardw...

Someone states there that it is compatible with all Turion X2 TL series processors and recommends a TL-60, TL-64 or TL-68 processor.

Before buying a new processor you'll want to see what you have. I use CPU-Z to find this, you can download it here -

http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z....

That will give you all the information on whats currently in your Laptop if you didnt know.

Then google the three processors that the thread suggested to see how fast they are - (I search AMD TL-64)

http://products.amd.com/en-us/noteboo...

The TL-60 is Dual Core 2Ghz

TL-64 is Dual Core 2.2GHz

and the TL-68 is 2.4GHz

Bear in mind that processor speed isnt the only variable which makes for a better processors, a higher L2 Cache is also better, but I checked on the AMD page and they have all 1MB so that doesnt matter in this case.

Then go to eBay and search for the TL-60, 64 and 68 etc and see how much they cost and pick one in your budget, weighing up how much of an improvement it is over what you have.

I found the TL-60's around $5, the TL-62's at around $15 and the TL-68 starting at $65 and going to well over $100.

If it were me I'd likely get the TL-62 - assuming its faster than what came in your M5010 it gives the best bang for your buck.

You might also want to check into buying more RAM, CPU-Z will also tell you how much you have and in how many slots. You can follow similar steps as I outlined above to see how much ram you can put in there and what types you need."