How to Upgrade a Dell Laptop Computer
Laptops are fun and portable but they have a couple of downsides compared to desktop computer. They are typically more expensive and harder to upgrade? Why? The components that go into a laptop have to be small and more efficient because of an economy of space. This also means there is less room to add things like a second hard drive or additional memory cards. That doesn't mean you can't upgrade a Dell laptop though.
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Instructions
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Identify you model and specifications. You will need this information to figure out what parts will fit your computer. To find you specifications, check your owner's manual or go to the Dell Support webpage and enter the service tag located on the bottom of your laptop.
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Know that computer performance is determined by a combination of factors inlcuding processor speed, memory size, hard disk size and speed and the graphics card. Your best bet for increasing speed without installing a new processor (which may be not be possible depending on your system board) is to add memory and/or upgrade your hard drive.
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Be aware that many modern computers come with 1GB (gigabyte) of memory or more. To run the latest programs and operating systems like Windows Vista, 2GB is reccomended. You can buy additional memory from Dell's website or a number of third party sites like Ebay.
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Be aware that hard drives are responsible for storage and retrieval of all your data. If you hard drive is near capacaity it can really slow your computer down. Consider upgrading to a a larger capacity drive that has a speed of 7400 rpm (rotations per minute). You can find drives that are compatible to your laptop by using your preferred search engine or visiting a local computer store. Make sure you are looking at laptop drives--a huge, fast hard-drive isn't going to do you much good if it doesn't fit in your computer.
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Upgrade your hard-drive and adding extra memory to your Dell laptop to experience a big boost in performance, especially when using multiple programs at once (multi-tasking).
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Tips & Warnings
Back-up your computer before attempting to upgrade if you are going to do it yourself.
