IBM A21p Laptop, want to upgrade

[Chinny4290]

Hey all. I'm new here. I have a 7 year old IBM A21p laptop with 512MB of RAM and an Intel PIII 850MHz processor. I would like any suggestions on what to do to make it faster and perform to more modern specifics.

Like, I might want to go as far as getting a new CPU, a new hardrive and so on. I would like to know what kind of socket CPU mine is if anyone knows. I've heard somewhere that it's a Socket 370 which is capable of using any PIII or Celeron processor. And With these hardware suggestions, I would like to know if this laptop is powerful enough to support it, as well as the BIOs, mobo and would like nice balance of upgrades.

i know this computer is old which makes my options very limited, but it's still good, it's an IBM and still works like a charm.

thanks all!

 

[Logan1]

first thing you upgrade is the most commom upgrade (and usually cheapest) to boost performance. add RAM. compatable parts will be hard to find. after that prolly a new CPU (get the best one for your socket/slot type). if you need to ga as far as replacing the mobo in a laptop then it will probably be cheaper to get a whole new one. good luck.

 

[itturnstoashes]

Bah, RAM. SO over-rated. All it really does is let programs randomly access it for commonly used and stored memory. Hence the name, Random Access Memory . If you don't do a lot of multi-tasking, or video rendering (3d gaming included), the odds are, 512mb-1gb will be sufficient. Laptops ARE a pain to upgrade.
Call a local store, they'll give you a quote.