As was obvious from our previous article, a modern notebook is not similar to a desktop in terms of upgrade ability, but there are still a lot of options open for adding functionality to a notebook. If you want to up the performance or storage capacity you can do so by upgrading the memory or the harddisk, these are relatively simple upgrades that yield excellent results with any notebook, whether in terms of performance and/or storage capacity. Upgrading the CPU is something that takes a little more time and effort but could make for a worthwhile upgrade too. In this article we’ve outlined how to replace your CDROM drive with a DVD, or Combo drive, an upgrade that is both simple and straight forward with most modern notebooks.



Fig 7. One last tip, if you upgrade your notebook’s CPU, be sure to remove the thermal pad most notebooks use and apply some quality thermal grease instead.

If you are indeed thinking of adding functionality to your notebook without having to open the cover it might also be worth to look into some of the other options we suggested. Notebook PCMCIAA cards come in all sorts and shapes, offering networking capabilities, IEEE1394 connectivity and more. And on top of that all of the parts we discussed are available at most retail outlets or can be ordered online, so that’ll make for a hassle free upgrade.

Sander Sassen