[vintagecollect]

I joined this forum just to give my two cents on computer.

I had this pc fo 7 years now. My family recently gotten a newer laptop everyone hogs and I can't use it. My old inspiron turned out to be my laptop for now. I did the 1GB upgrade as mentioned before. I also upgraded the wifi card to a hawking 54G for better wifi range and performance. Recently I upgraded wifi card to a d-link 300 MBS! Makes the fastest wireless web browsing I have ever done on dell.

I also DID a major service most older pcs here would benefit. MY dell has gone into service several times.Recently the HDD was replaced when warranty expired by a "supposed" expert tech. He suggested my dell could not do memory upgrade or a bigger HDD.

The service I did my self is clean the large internal heatsink -near back of unit - exhaust vent of lint, dust and pet hair that's been building up for years. Heatsink to cpu too. If you aren't comfortable doing this yourself have a tech do it. Cleaning out the clumps of gunk , made the dell run cooler and gave it long lost performance.

These dells are well made AND PARTS for upgrades ARE CHEAP. WIFI card, new power ac adapter, a new high quality battery and the memory upgrade I bought online at surplus prices if you look. Plenty of parts out there, upgrade more affordable and better quality than previous before. My dell can run 2 to 2.5 hours on battery w/ right power setup. Battery at half price costly replacement originally went for.I also have a added on dual cooling fans placed over the memory since gets hot and over air intake at bottom of unit.

My latest goal is to watch music videos via wifi. A window works better than full screen as dell can't handle it. Also sometimes pausing video so dell can buffer more helps video playback. If video lags and locks up, browser window needs to be closed and reopened to reset browser. Using good earphones such as Sony makes a big improvement on sound quality over internal speakers.

Making upgrades have been fun. Computer works better than ever.


I have 2 important questions I'm looking for help on upgrades.

1. IS there a pmcia video upgrade card OR USB video upgrade card to upgrade and switch away from internal 64MB video card.

2. IS there a bios hack or windows adjustment to change 64 mb setting to use more of the memory now installed, would this make a video playback difference? There's a display setting in windows that's faded meaning you can't adjust 64mb? No adjustment in bios I can find.

running windows xp

 

[[email protected]]

1.
Try to search for a USB Video Card.

Here in India we get USB Video Card...

So Try to find one that may solve the problem

2.
Try to increase the virtual Memory & check wether taht increases the video performance...

:wave:

 

[vintagecollect]

thanks smit for info,

I looked at usb and will do again for the best possible one. There's supposed to be a bios setting I found posts in different forum. ARE you able to adjust video ram in your dell via bios, smit?

I guess I need a bios update. Making this ancient dell do multimedia videos would be cool. :smile:

Also extending useful life since will be more powerful for multimedia applications that previously was not possible. I will probaly even do a solid state hdd since finding new use for old pc. Doing research on web turns out best feasible upgrades for laptops. Please others join in for reply.

 

[[email protected]]

Link for BIOS Update :
Dell - Support

may be this will help you.....

any other updates you need.....:wave:

 

[SA Spurs1]

I believe a 64mb video card is the best you can do internally. I do not believe you can change the video ram in the bios. You can press F2 at boot when you see the Dell logo to enter the bios.

 

[vintagecollect]

Re: dell inspiron 1000 upgrades-notice heat problem

Thanks for info spurs, smit,

I experimented and tried something as I have mentioned running music videos. These music videos are low def. 480 to 240. Discovered something important, everyone knows these run hot enough to cook an egg, so I removed screen bezel while flipping up keyboard to run a small house fan over cpu, co cpu.

This made a big difference in ability for dell to handle videos, EVEN full screen video. Occasional hiccup sometimes temp. to catch up. Runs many times better!! The small fan for cpu is insufficient at keeping properly cooled, reducing performance. House fan ran over cpu units w/ keyboard up.

Noticed two other things:
1) video in small screen runs better and main cpu runs cooler, cpu built in fan stays OFF with added on house fan venting dell's interior
2) Same video in full screen mode makes cpu run much hotter, activating the built in cpu fan controlled by a thermal setting. Video still plays fine w/ added on vent fan over cpu's. Full screen video IS NOT possible w/ out added on big fan for good air flow.

The cooling fan is seriously insufficient, I guess good enough to avoid failures, but suffers performance. I guess fan is small to promote battery life.

DOES anyone one make a liquid cooling unit for laptops, notebooks?

will try bios update too.

 

[[email protected]]

Depending upon the cabinet u r using....u can put 1 or 2 extra fans for good ventilation....

 

[hwatt]

Hello,
I have an Inspiron 1100 that I run on a cool pad because it gets too hot under load, but today I reapplied thermal paste (Arctic Silver) and it dropped my temps by 15 degrees Fahrenheit. It runs cooler and faster and it only took maybe 20 minutes and a little Arctic Silver.
There is also a Dell fan control program link in this article that allows you to increase the fan speed through software.
Our Dell Inspiron 1100 Has Overheating Problems Again, in the Computers > category, on danandsherree.com

Good Luck.

 

[vintagecollect]

I made better internal cooling-- adding copper to heatsink using pennies. The pennies attached to old heatsink is actually several layers high. The pennies were added to cpu cover plate too. Sunon fans were used, and a larger one, all running off of usb power plugged into usb port. NOW I can watch videos in a window, low def video no problem with minimum hesitation. Your also compensating for celeron's lack of heatsink contact due to it's design. High def video still freezes unit. Will purchase and add on additional external cooling and see if this makes a differance.The heat problem is a major setback for this model.
The CPU cover plate now sits higher w/ mods, keyboard fastened down w/ electrical tape. The bootom of case under cpu still feels hot. If someone was to make slots in notebook case and let bottom air out, I'm sure this would help too. I can watch 80's music video all day long now, great, EVEN in full screen mode! Try that w/ you dell inspiron 1000--will keep posted of further cooling.
:grin:

 

[vintagecollect]

Re: dell inspiron 1000 upgrades- universal notebook heatsink upgrade

Cool idea to attach thrifty pennies to any notebook heat sink to increase cool off.

CAN ANYONE tell me the exact model, type and specs for the cpu upgrade to upgrade this to 2.8 ghz celeron cpu, please reply.IF can, give socket type and pic of cpu for reference. I'm interested in purchasing upgrade cpu, need to know correct one to purchase. Plenty of these available now since older and surplus. CPU upgrade possible?

:idea: