Free computer help offer - from me

[UWone77]

Eric,

I've got an old HP laptop I mainly use for web browsing. I was considering dumping it for something new, but like you, I just upgraded the RAM and used a SSD. The SSD alone made the upgrade worth it. Computer boots up almost instantaneously and for the basic needs I have with it, has made the upgrade worth it.

[Thompson]

Plan: New SSHD (solid state hybrid, 1TB)

Not sure what manufacturer you are going with (and assuming this isn't your plan already) - but take a look at the different manufacturers. A lot of them offer some sort of mirroring/image cloning software for free --> for use of data migration from one hard drive to another.

What's the size of the current (old) drive? Depending on how large that is, instead of getting a SSHD you could get a SSD. Much faster; and you'll pretty much never have issues with it being slow ever again. Can easily find a 240GB SSD (to be used primarily as your boot drive) for under $100.

The SSD alone made the upgrade worth it.

+1

[Eric]

The current platter HD is 1TB. I was looking at an inexpensive 1TB Seagate SSHD for about $75 from Amazon. It looks like the hybrid design of flash memory with a standard HD puts it somewhere between a real SSD and a traditional HD.

With that said, I could also just pick up a SanDisk Ultra II SSD 240GB SATA III 2.5-Inch for about the same price. I believe that I would just need to get an adapter to secure it in the larger bay on the desktop. Now that I think about it, 240GB should be ample for the OS and program files.

[FortTom]

The current platter HD is 1TB. I was looking at an inexpensive 1TB Seagate SSHD for about $75 from Amazon. It looks like the hybrid design of flash memory with a standard HD puts it somewhere between a real SSD and a traditional HD.

With that said, I could also just pick up a SanDisk Ultra II 240GB SATA III 2.5-Inch for about the same price. I believe that I would just need to get an adapter to secure it in the larger bay on the desktop. Now that I think about it, 240GB should be ample for the OS and program files.

Eric, that drive is going to be the tits for an older system, but more so, you need to crank up the memory. 4G, what you have now, is really the minimum for Win 10. It's a memory hog. Do the memory upgrade, check out the speed, then do the SATA drive. It'll be like nitrous oxide in your hot rod. Even on a older system.

FT

[ChattanoogaPhil]

Breathing new life into older equipment can be a worthwhile project.
Recently installed 12gb ram and a 4tb drive into a 2009 27in iMac. The pics you guys post sure look nice on that screen.

It's been nice since the desktop world reached the point where I don't need an entire new unit every year. Hell, 25 year ago they were obsolete before ya got the dang thing home and pugged in.

[UWone77]

Eric, that drive is going to be the tits for an older system, but more so, you need to crank up the memory. 4G, what you have now, is really the minimum for Win 10. It's a memory hog. Do the memory upgrade, check out the speed, then do the SATA drive. It'll be like nitrous oxide in your hot rod. Even on a older system.

FT

I've basically extended the life of my last 2 desktops by another few years just by upgrading the RAM from 8 to 16 on the first one, and this current one from 16 to 32.

Probably time for a new machine sometime in 2018 though.