Lifehack: how to get a fast laptop for cheap

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Batman

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Topic # 162062 28-Jan-2015 09:24

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get any old cheap laptop, core2duo and above

replace with cheap SSD (mine is a very fast 1st gen - OCZ vertex 2 120 gb that cost me $900 at that time)

install Windows 10 Technical Preview [free]

= very very very fast laptop

yee ha

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Reply # 1223771 28-Jan-2015 09:27

PS might have to take it back if some bugs pop up or lifespan of OS is suddenly terminated ... but so far so good ... IE11 even has a smiley face - and i have no idea what to do with it ...

wasabi2k

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Reply # 1223808 28-Jan-2015 10:01

Yeah I am waiting for the consumer preview to come out - then going to try on my Stream 7.

Would do it on my probook - but given the abysmal support by HP for their AMD Drivers I might not.

Does Windows 10 require new WDDM versions like 8.1 did?

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Reply # 1223812 28-Jan-2015 10:06

My laptop is around 7 years old. Nothing needed. Insert dvd. Install everything works. Fast. No bugs found yet. Had to wait overnight to install google search ability on ie11 not sure why it didn't want to last night.

timmmay

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Reply # 1223817 28-Jan-2015 10:09

W10 does seem to be reasonably quick on my 2nd gen i7.

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Stu

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Reply # 1223854 28-Jan-2015 10:47

Have a couple of old 6710b laptops and an M550 SSD. Might just give it a go.

Keep calm, and carry on posting.

sxz

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Reply # 1223893 28-Jan-2015 11:19

wasabi2k: Yeah I am waiting for the consumer preview to come out - then going to try on my Stream 7.

Would do it on my probook - but given the abysmal support by HP for their AMD Drivers I might not.

Does Windows 10 require new WDDM versions like 8.1 did?

This - I am interested in. Let me know how you get on. I was worried the new scaling software would treat a 7" tablet more like a phone than a PC...

nathan

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Reply # 1223908 28-Jan-2015 11:36

sxz:
wasabi2k: Yeah I am waiting for the consumer preview to come out - then going to try on my Stream 7.

Would do it on my probook - but given the abysmal support by HP for their AMD Drivers I might not.

Does Windows 10 require new WDDM versions like 8.1 did?

This - I am interested in. Let me know how you get on. I was worried the new scaling software would treat a 7" tablet more like a phone than a PC...

your 7" device will still be a PC and still have a desktop etc after upgrading to Windows 10

Stu

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Reply # 1223954 28-Jan-2015 12:03

joker97: Had to wait overnight to install google search ability on ie11 not sure why it didn't want to last night.

Noticed Google Search missing a couple of times when trying to add it to IE10 lately.

Keep calm, and carry on posting.

dacraka

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Reply # 1223984 28-Jan-2015 12:26

joker97: PS might have to take it back if some bugs pop up or lifespan of OS is suddenly terminated ... but so far so good ... IE11 even has a smiley face - and i have no idea what to do with it ...

Smiley face is a bug reporter feature, isn't it? :P

sxz

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Reply # 1224046 28-Jan-2015 13:46

nathan:
sxz:
wasabi2k: Yeah I am waiting for the consumer preview to come out - then going to try on my Stream 7.

Would do it on my probook - but given the abysmal support by HP for their AMD Drivers I might not.

Does Windows 10 require new WDDM versions like 8.1 did?

This - I am interested in. Let me know how you get on. I was worried the new scaling software would treat a 7" tablet more like a phone than a PC...

your 7" device will still be a PC and still have a desktop etc after upgrading to Windows 10

Excellent. Thank you. Otherwise I really like the look of the scaling between tablet mode and keyboard mode - looks like it will add a lot of usability!

lchiu7

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Reply # 1224048 28-Jan-2015 14:05

Well I have one of these which I still use occasionally.

http://www.pcworld.com/product/29873/toshiba-portege-r400-s4931-notebook.html

It was slow as molasses until I replaced the internal 1.8" ZIF PATA drive (!) with a SSD. But because of the form factor and interface type, the SSD was a bit more expensive than those 2.5" SATA ones that are everywhere.

While it doesn't do 6Gbs, it went from being pretty much unusable (I upgraded it from Vista to Windows 7) to being able to run usefully, Photoshop and Audition on it.

I would be reluctant to put Windows 10 on it because I doubt if some of the hardware it has (Wacom pen screen, Bluetooth) etc. has support in Windows 10.

System One: Popcorn Hour A200, PS3 SuperSlim, NPVR and Plex Server running on Gigabyte Brix (Windows 10 Pro), Sony BDP-S390 BD player, Pioneer AVR, Raspberry Pi running Kodi and Plex, Panasonic 60" 3D plasma, Google Chromecast

System Two: Popcorn Hour A200 , Oppo BDP-80 BluRay Player with hardware mode to be region free, Vivitek HD1080P 1080P DLP projector with 100" screen. Harman Kardon HK AVR 254 7.1 receiver, Samsung 4K player, Google Chromecast

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https://plus.google.com/+laurencechiu

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Reply # 1224108 28-Jan-2015 14:52

partition and try :D

Dairyxox

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Reply # 1224137 28-Jan-2015 15:30

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SSD + Windows 8 is also a pretty good combo for breathing new life into Vista era hardware.

Batman

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Reply # 1224157 28-Jan-2015 15:49

Not free though

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Reply # 1224507 29-Jan-2015 07:08

sxz:
wasabi2k: Yeah I am waiting for the consumer preview to come out - then going to try on my Stream 7.

Would do it on my probook - but given the abysmal support by HP for their AMD Drivers I might not.

Does Windows 10 require new WDDM versions like 8.1 did?

This - I am interested in. Let me know how you get on. I was worried the new scaling software would treat a 7" tablet more like a phone than a PC...

forgot to mention

with the windows 7 it was on you need to install a software to make the special keys work. these special keys seem to work out of the box with windows 10. and for some reason the right click which wasn't working very well works fine now. (surely it can't heal physical defects?)

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