Is it worth upgrading the RAM of an HP Pavillion N5150, and installing XP?

Zazula · 12-26-2006, 03:32 AM

A good friend of mine has an HP Pavillion N5150. It runs on WinME and she asked me if it is worth adding RAM to it and installing WinXP. I had a look here: http://configurator.ocztechnology.co...&modelid=15808, and it seems she'll have to buy two 128MB sticks and dispose of the current 64MB one (well, actually she can hand it down to me for other projects...

) What do you guys think? Is it worth it or not? Moreover, is a single 128MB stick a viable alternative? At this site it seems she'll be able to get said sticks (Transcend) at 23 euros + VAT per piece: http://www.memory-configurator.com/H...ook-N5150.html

crazijoe · 12-26-2006, 05:35 AM

256 would be the absolute bare minimum for XP in my book. I have an old 266laptop with 128MB of memory and it barely runs Win2K. It's using 101MB of memory just on it's own resources and AVG AV. If I open a web browser to a site with lots going on, it starts paging. Get the max the machine will take.

**8210GUY** · 12-26-2006, 06:49 AM

IMHO that is a hard question to answer, assuming 256 is the max the board can take, and considering xp will use the best part of that hard drive (nearly half) just for the OS before you start adding other stuff, one would seriously consider if there would be any benefit to updating it, if it were mine I'd have to say no, but depending on what they think they will benefit from it they may feel it worth it, the ram is certainly cheap enough, one could consider leaving the OS and updating the ram alone, that should certainly show some benefit in speed, depends on how soon they could afford to upgrade to a complete new unit.

**TheMatt** · 12-26-2006, 09:14 PM

I can tell you that it will be slower than maple syrup. Our school runs XP on mostly PIII's with 256 MB of RAM and a couple of PII's with 128 MB in the classrooms, and they take forever just to log on. There is also a computer that one of the after school clubs uses that has a Pentium MMX with 64 MB or RAM. That is running Windows 98, and it is actually faster. I would stick with ME, or if you want to upgrade to something with more security, pick up a copy of Windows 2K.

Tumbleweed36 · 12-26-2006, 09:21 PM

Hi,

I would also not recommend XP with only that much ram. XP eats ram for breakfast and I would only consider 512 ram as acceptable for that operating system or she will become discouraged with it. Don't misunderstand, it will run, but perform very poorly.

However, since the price is great, I would suggest that she pick up the ram and keep ME. Even ME will show differences with that much of a ram change. That is my opinion.

**laboye** · 12-27-2006, 01:32 PM

As said, 256 is cutting it short. At 600MHz, XP will run "OK" if you disable the effects and themes. Windows 2000 Pro should run great on it, though (relatively so). "Me" is one of those "meh" OSs that never really won audiences very well. It was made to be a home version of Windows 2000 but is not NT based and is still based off of the 98 kernel (DOS-based). You'd be surprised how fast 98 is on something like that.

-Eddie

Zazula · 01-15-2007, 03:27 AM

First of all, many thanks for your great help and feedback. She finally decided to keep that old laptop running ME as an emergency backup machine only, and she's moving on purchasing a brand-new low-end Aspire for its replacement as her standard computer.

12-26-2006, 03:32 AM	#1 (permalink)
Zazula Manager Emeritus, I'm blond, James Blond Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Athens, Greece Posts: 7,667 OS: Win XP Pro SP2	Is it worth upgrading the RAM of an HP Pavillion N5150, and installing XP? A good friend of mine has an HP Pavillion N5150. It runs on WinME and she asked me if it is worth adding RAM to it and installing WinXP. I had a look here: http://configurator.ocztechnology.co...&modelid=15808, and it seems she'll have to buy two 128MB sticks and dispose of the current 64MB one (well, actually she can hand it down to me for other projects...) What do you guys think? Is it worth it or not? Moreover, is a single 128MB stick a viable alternative? At this site it seems she'll be able to get said sticks (Transcend) at 23 euros + VAT per piece: http://www.memory-configurator.com/H...ook-N5150.html __________________ "Time is the wisest because it discovers everything" Thales of Miletus (ca.624BC-ca.546BC) "Everything flows, nothing stands still." Heraclitus of Ephesus (ca.535BC-475BC) "One thing I know, that I know nothing" Socrates of Athens (ca.470BC–399BC) Last edited by Zazula; 12-26-2006 at 03:34 AM.

12-26-2006, 05:35 AM	#2 (permalink)
crazijoe Registered User Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Omaha, The Center of the Universe Posts: 7,632 OS: WinXP, Win2K3 My System	256 would be the absolute bare minimum for XP in my book. I have an old 266laptop with 128MB of memory and it barely runs Win2K. It's using 101MB of memory just on it's own resources and AVG AV. If I open a web browser to a site with lots going on, it starts paging. Get the max the machine will take. __________________ Microsoft MCSA + Messaging, MVP, A+, Network+ http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b3...other/Help.jpg Do you want a real Republican? HDD diagnostic tools / HDD data recovery software

12-26-2006, 09:14 PM	#4 (permalink)
TheMatt TSF Enthusiast Join Date: May 2006 Location: Boston Posts: 13,701 OS: Win 3.1, 98, NT 4.0, XP Debian 4.0, Kubuntu 6.06 My System Blog Entries: 3	I can tell you that it will be slower than maple syrup. Our school runs XP on mostly PIII's with 256 MB of RAM and a couple of PII's with 128 MB in the classrooms, and they take forever just to log on. There is also a computer that one of the after school clubs uses that has a Pentium MMX with 64 MB or RAM. That is running Windows 98, and it is actually faster. I would stick with ME, or if you want to upgrade to something with more security, pick up a copy of Windows 2K. __________________ - Matt M - KB1OSC - Folding@Home 85015 [url="http://www.techsupportforum.com/hardware-support/"] If TSF has helped you, please consider donating. If I have stopped responding to a thread, feel free to send me a PM with a link to the thread. It is advisable to subscribe to threads so you will receive updates when replies are posted. You can subscribe to threads from the "Thread Tools" Menu. »Memtest86 »Prime95 »UBCD »SpeedFan »NHC Personal »Everest »Sandra »PC Wizard »RivaTuner »ATi Tool Click here for Useful Articles and Guides

12-26-2006, 09:21 PM	#5 (permalink)
Tumbleweed36 Asst Manager Hardware Join Date: May 2005 Location: USA Posts: 19,486 OS: XP Professional	Hi, I would also not recommend XP with only that much ram. XP eats ram for breakfast and I would only consider 512 ram as acceptable for that operating system or she will become discouraged with it. Don't misunderstand, it will run, but perform very poorly. However, since the price is great, I would suggest that she pick up the ram and keep ME. Even ME will show differences with that much of a ram change. That is my opinion. __________________ ---------- I don't receive email notifications of replies to subscribed threads. (Internet provider policy) Therefore, if I don't respond to your post within 24 hours, please send me a reminder PM and include the link to your thread.

12-27-2006, 01:32 PM	#6 (permalink)
laboye TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Hollywood, FL Posts: 1,246 OS: Windows xp Pro/Vista Beta 2/Ubuntu 6.06 LTS My System	As said, 256 is cutting it short. At 600MHz, XP will run "OK" if you disable the effects and themes. Windows 2000 Pro should run great on it, though (relatively so). "Me" is one of those "meh" OSs that never really won audiences very well. It was made to be a home version of Windows 2000 but is not NT based and is still based off of the 98 kernel (DOS-based). You'd be surprised how fast 98 is on something like that. -Eddie __________________ Repair Windows XP Guide --- Resolutions Crazy Computer that I'm saving up for::Antec P180 Case;PC Pwr&Cooling 1kW Quad SLI PSU;Asus P5N32-SLI SE Deluxe;Intel Core2 XE X6800;Corsair TWIN2XP2048 2GB PC2-6400 DDR2 RAM;2xAsus GeForce 7950 GX2;BFG PhysX Accel.;IBM DVD-RAM/Plextor DVD±RW;Seagate 750GB HD 7200RPM;WDX 150GB 10000RPM;Vigor Monsoon TEC Cooler

12-26-2006, 06:49 AM	#3 (permalink)
8210GUY TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 1,558 OS: xp Pro	IMHO that is a hard question to answer, assuming 256 is the max the board can take, and considering xp will use the best part of that hard drive (nearly half) just for the OS before you start adding other stuff, one would seriously consider if there would be any benefit to updating it, if it were mine I'd have to say no, but depending on what they think they will benefit from it they may feel it worth it, the ram is certainly cheap enough, one could consider leaving the OS and updating the ram alone, that should certainly show some benefit in speed, depends on how soon they could afford to upgrade to a complete new unit.

01-15-2007, 03:27 AM	#7 (permalink)
Zazula Manager Emeritus, I'm blond, James Blond Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Athens, Greece Posts: 7,667 OS: Win XP Pro SP2	First of all, many thanks for your great help and feedback. She finally decided to keep that old laptop running ME as an emergency backup machine only, and she's moving on purchasing a brand-new low-end Aspire for its replacement as her standard computer. __________________ "Time is the wisest because it discovers everything" Thales of Miletus (ca.624BC-ca.546BC) "Everything flows, nothing stands still." Heraclitus of Ephesus (ca.535BC-475BC) "One thing I know, that I know nothing" Socrates of Athens (ca.470BC–399BC)