Upgrade Del Inspiron 8600?

[emtee3511]

I have a friend with a Dell Inspiron 8600 --
Intel Pentium M 1.4ghz
512mb PC2700 (2gb max)
30gb HDD (I think she said it's upgraded to 500gb, but not sure on that)
Windows XP Pro


She/we want to know if upgrading the ram to max 2gb will 'pep' it up a bit -- I think she won't be getting an SSD because of the size she needs for storage (I think lots of photos and data, but not sure.)

Should there be a discernible difference with the 2gb over 512mb ram? Also, would Windows 7 be a better (i.e. snappier) operating system choice over XP, or would there be little difference between the two?

[EasyMac308]

2GB would help, but unless you can get it super cheap, it's probably not worth the bother.

The machine is IDE, not SATA, if memory serves, so I doubt she has 500GB in it. With an IDE interface the availability/usefulness of an SSD is questionable.

If it were me, you ought to be able to find a cheap machine like a T60 or T61 (someone here had a mostly complete one for $40 that would have been a great candidate) for under $100 that will be worlds better, and worth upgrading if you wanted to take it further. JMHO.

[emtee3511]

Thank you EasyMac308 -- I didn't realize how old her machine actually is -- so it seems purchasing ram would not be a good investment. I did pick up a 'bargain' T60 on the Forum, so I guess the next step is to see how she wants to upgrade that machine -- I've never been very good at copying and transferring files over from one machine to the next (I usually just clone the HDD), but I do have a Windows Easy Transfer cable, so we can give that a try. Thanks very much for your advice