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Foreword By The Editor

Five laptop upgrades you can do yourself are covered in this excellent article by Francua Smith. Most people, even those who are basically familiar with the workings of their tower PC, do not realize how easy it is to keep a laptop in good order. If you are one of those, the following processes will probably help.
Mike Alexander
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Tired Laptop Needs A Tune-Up?

Do you have an aged laptop which you feel is in need of an upgrade? Well, the possibilities for upgrading an existing laptop are, fortunately, quite good. From Bluetooth to wireless adapters, extra RAM to a fresh tough drive, there are many things you can do to upgrade your existing laptop. In this article we will lookat five laptop upgrades you can do very simply yourself, without taking the machine to the manufacturer.

Upgrade Number One

Increase the memory of your laptop. Now, dollar for dollar, increasing your system’s RAM is the most value for money upgrade you can perform. If your Windows Vista is chugging along with a lot of hard disk swapping and slowing down terribly, pump in another 2 GB of RAM and watch what happens. You’ll be amazed at the speed improvement. Head over to Crucial.com to check out some good laptop RAM deals.

Upgrade Number Two

Install a new hard drive. Another favorite improvement can be the laptop tough drive. I used to have a miserable 60 GB tough drive in one of my aged laptops and I can say to you now that in this day of enormous videos and MP3 music, 60 GB is not enough. Do yourself a favor and improve that tough drive to something like 160 GB. The other option is to get an external tough drive (say a 320 GB monster) and then you can forget about running out of tough drive space.

Upgrade Number Three

Arrange Bluetooth connectivity. Bluetooth technology is incorporated in some laptops but not others. For laptops without in-built Bluetooth, you can buy a USB dongle with Bluetooth capability from any good computer shop. This usually comes with some software which allows you to install Bluetooth capability into your laptop. Very important for those you like to synch their Bluetooth enabled mobile phones to their laptop.

Upgrade Number Four

Get a laptop stand. Ok, this is not precisely an upgrade, but I find laptop stands increasingly the favored improvement with the mobile computing crowd. Laptop stands are good for your posture and some of them also allow your laptop to cool better. It’s surely a fine ‘upgrade’ to assume, whether you leave your laptop at home a lot or not. Just plonk the laptop stand on the desk and you’ll be able to enjoy better computing without ruining your posture from then on.

Upgrade Number Five

Invest in an extra battery. If you’re on the road a lot, you should really consider buying an extra battery. In particular, if your laptop runs out of battery juice quickly, a second battery is almost a must. I bought an extra battery for my ThinkPad X61 and I can sit at a cafe typing away for 8 solid hours, without requiring a recharge. Heaven!

Conclusion

Well, now you know about five laptop upgrades you can easily perform yourself. The next time you feel your laptop needs a bit of a tune up, look to the above list and see what components you can upgrade. Sometimes a small upgrade (especially additional RAM) will do wonders for your laptop and overall computing experience. By the way, if you’re interested in learning more about the ins and outs of laptops, you may want to check out my laptop guide.

About the Author

Francua Smith is a computer specialist who has a lot of experience on laptop computers. He will help you to choose your own good laptop computer.