Can a dell inspiron 1100 be upgraded?

**Elrond** · May 01, 2007, 11:43 AM

I have a dell inspiron 1100 and I was wondering if it was possible to get it to run windows vista (prefrably home premium).

it has 512mb of ram (which I know can be upgraded to 1gb)
the hard drive is alright atm so it doesnt need upgrading.

Is it possible to add a graphics card (its a laptop)?

btw the laptop is about 3 years old.

any help / advice would be welcome.

**Erik** · May 01, 2007, 12:34 PM

Upgrading a Dell is alway troublesome.
Dell wants you to only buy their parts, so they make motherboards that deviate from the standard which aren't always compatible with the stuff you buy in the shops.

I don't think you can add a graphics card if there isn't one in already, but you should check the Dell website or take it apart and see what kind of expansion slots it has.

**sdjenkyn** · May 01, 2007, 04:57 PM

Flat out except for possibly adding ram you cannot upgrade laptops and particularly Dell unless you have a workstation type laptop and inspiron is not a workstation. Good news is that I think Dell will trade back your old laptop for another one but you may want to call their customer support and verify that. Also if you do buy another Dell definitely look at their refurbished machines as you will get two to three x's the machine for the money. If you go that route P.M. as I recently picked up one of there 17" precision notebooks for under 2000.00 that will probably smoke most peoples custom built rigs here.

**Incinerate_IV** · May 01, 2007, 08:24 PM

Certain models of Dell laptops can be upgraded, just do some research on Google. The upgrades you have to do your self though, I don't think Dell would upgrade it for you.

Originally Posted by sdjenkyn

If you go that route P.M. as I recently picked up one of there 17" precision notebooks for under 2000.00 that will probably smoke most peoples custom built rigs here.

Your saying that your Quadro would smoke most people's custom rigs here? Not a chance! In CAD programs maybe, but definitely not in gaming.

**sdjenkyn** · May 01, 2007, 10:03 PM

Maybe I am and maybe I'm not

I was referring to the total machine and the machine being a laptop compared to (ok) some of the desktops posted here. Besides I can play anything on this maxed with no lag (mtw2 ,quake4, Fe.a.r ect.) Also I did the research and most non-business class dell laptops are not upgradeable but don't take my word for it they do have a customer contact number.

**PurpleScotch** · May 02, 2007, 09:56 AM

Do the latest (and pre-latest) models of HP laptops allow upgrading...because next year we're (my school) studying with laptops instead of books and I'm wondering if I can upgrade the graphic card to ATI/Nvidia cards.
(The laptop isn't with me yet...the school will give it to us next school year in about 5 months)

**sdjenkyn** · May 02, 2007, 10:33 AM

I don't think its possible tho I may be wrong.....I spent a lot of time looking for my rig with my needs and hunted high and low for info on scalability.Which is why I bought what I bought. I found very little in the way of laptop component (hardware) retailers anywhere. Best bet if you know the manufacturer of your machine drop them a line as of course they are happy to tell you one way or another. Unfortunately there is still a real disparity between building a custom desktop and laptops. Hope that helps.