Upgrading Old T40

[DrThinkpad]

My Thinkpad T40 has a few problems and I might want to solve them then upgrade it so it lasts longer

My first problem are my constant losses of connection since I've had my new ''N'' router, it seems to conflict with my 2100b card. Whenever I need to load pictures or videos my connection gets a hiccup, cuts and the download stops, the connection crashes. My router is a Cisco-Linksys, high-end model, can't remember which but oh well. Anyone else having connection problems with those old internal cards ?

Upgrade wise, would there be any benefits to add 512mb/1G of RAM (I already have 512, PC2100 and I'm running XP Pro), change the old 5400 RPM 40G hard drive that started clicking for a 7200 RPM or even change the CPU ? I like to start all my apps in the same time so RAM would probably help, but what about the hard drive ?

If you also had any tips on how to get the most out of the poor Radeon 7500 chip, that would probably help too.

My budget is not really high, if it costs too much I'd rather get another laptop. I just want to extend this one's life

Thanks in advance for your replies and excuse my poor English

[sktn77a]

Definitely add more RAM. Good luck finding a 7200 PATA drive. The only ones you'll see are used ones and they'll be a crapshoot. The larger 5400 drives are almost as fast now. I upgraded my T40 to a 2.0GHz Dothan but it wasn't a cost effective upgrade. I also got rid of the 2100b wireless card - got an IBM 11a/b/g wireless II card - that made a difference, too.

[DrThinkpad]

Definitely add more RAM. Good luck finding a 7200 PATA drive. The only ones you'll see are used ones and they'll be a crapshoot. The larger 5400 drives are almost as fast now. I upgraded my T40 to a 2.0GHz Dothan but it wasn't a cost effective upgrade. I also got rid of the 2100b wireless card - got an IBM 11a/b/g wireless II card - that made a difference, too.

If I swap my card, I'll get a PCMCIA ''N'' card. Is there a reason why I shouldn't ?

[sktn77a]

Unfortunately, I don't think any N cards are compatible with the T40. I never had any connectivity problems with my 2100b card - just slow nertwork speeds when transferring files.

[DrThinkpad]

Unfortunately, I don't think any N cards are compatible with the T40. I never had any connectivity problems with my 2100b card - just slow nertwork speeds when transferring files.

Where's the compatibility problems for PCMCIA cards ?

[NorrisCell]

Even though there aren't any N cards available, you would notice a big difference going to an A/B/G card.

The RAM upgrade would be the most beneficial and cost effective as well. The CPU would be the last thing I would upgrade, unless it fails.

[virge]

My Thinkpad T40 has a few problems and I might want to solve them then upgrade it so it lasts longer

My first problem are my constant losses of connection since I've had my new ''N'' router, it seems to conflict with my 2100b card. Whenever I need to load pictures or videos my connection gets a hiccup, cuts and the download stops, the connection crashes. My router is a Cisco-Linksys, high-end model, can't remember which but oh well. Anyone else having connection problems with those old internal cards ?

Upgrade wise, would there be any benefits to add 512mb/1G of RAM (I already have 512, PC2100 and I'm running XP Pro), change the old 5400 RPM 40G hard drive that started clicking for a 7200 RPM or even change the CPU ? I like to start all my apps in the same time so RAM would probably help, but what about the hard drive ?

If you also had any tips on how to get the most out of the poor Radeon 7500 chip, that would probably help too.

My budget is not really high, if it costs too much I'd rather get another laptop. I just want to extend this one's life

Thanks in advance for your replies and excuse my poor English

I am in the process of selling a T41 with the upgrades you mention. For me, there was a big difference in going from 512MB to 1GB ram-- mainly because I use Firefox and tend to hibernate the system. Just today on my T42P Firefox 3.0 was taking 412MB of memory! The second upgrade I would do is add a big 5400 rpm or medium sized 7200 rpm drive. That made a noticeable difference. The CPU upgrade was the least noticeable, but I was only going up a little bit. If you're going from a 1.5 to 2.0Ghz, it may be more noticeable. I recently upgraded our X23 from a 866Mhz board to a 1.13Ghz board and it is definitely zippier.

The Wifi upgrade is relatively cheap-- you can pick up a B/G card for $15 shipped and an A/B/G card for $25 or so. So far, I haven't had a need to go to N. I tend to transfer larger files via external drive, so for internet B/G works fine.

[sktn77a]

Where's the compatibility problems for PCMCIA cards ?

Ah - didn't see that! Well, if you find a PCMCIA N card, I don't see why it wouldn't work; just watch out for that protruding antenna!