Should I sell my TR3AP1 and buy either a used or refurbished T350P/L or a new TX770P/B?  :?

There’s nothing wrong with the notebook except paints on my mouse pad and letters on my keys had been rubbed off.  No other damages or scratches on the TR.  :shock:

Also, I’ve noticed my TR gets heated a lot quicker than before (fan’s working).  Not to mention, the TR itself has gotten a lot slower in my opinion.  :x

With my experience with previous Sony Vaio PCs and Notebooks I’ve had, they tend to die within 2 years.  And I’ve pre-ordered my TR before it was released in Spring of 2004, so I’ve had it for a good 2 1/2 years.  :(

And because I don’t know anything about computers, I haven’t done any upgrades on my TR (I feel horrible).  Even though I want to… after reading your upgrades on RAM and Bluetooth.  Okay, I think I know what RAM is and I’ve heard of bluetooth and I probably use them… but what exactly is it?  :oops:

I bought this notebook originally because I couldn’t carry my other Sony Vaio Notebook around my campus, it was huge and too heavy.  And because I’m an architecture major, I wanted to a tiny notebook to carry around all the time.  :wink:

I just don’t want to see this notebook die.  I really like my TR and I think I’ve taken a good care of it.  At the same time, because my brother refused to get a T350P/L nor TX770P/B, I want one myself.  And because I’m a college student and money is short, I can’t afford another notebook with my TR until I get a job.  :cry:

So… what should I do?  If I don’t sell it, I’m thinking spending my money instead on a new DiCa, probably Sony DSC-N1 or DSC-T30 and do upgrades on my TR along with getting a new palmset and keyboard unit.  :?

Help?!?!  :?:  :!:

Thanks,

David, from Seattle.

Upgrading the TR will deliver you lots of gains and also give you a new found love of it

Upgrade the ram and hard drive, reinstall windows and get rid of the “slow down ware” that clogs it up. And be happy for a couple of years.

I can still remember the first days at university when people
spent lots of time to compare their laptops (as if it would make
you a better student   )

I used to carry my TR around on the campus as well
and people went green with envy when seeing it.

Its not the power that the TR has but its compact design and weight.

However.
I think that the TR is still a good choice for people who really carry it around with them. You acknowledged it yourself. You dont have enough money to buy a new Lappi just by the way. So why do that at all?

Upgrade your RAM. You just have to remove one screw and a little plastic cover on your TR.

You can also buy new mousepads and a new keyboard as well.
Installation is not a big deal when someone tells you where to find all screws and so…

Me and other forum members would give you a hand so just ask when you need help. I also know a company thats specialiced on used notebook parts. They also have tons of TR parts. Ask me if you need contact info. I dont know if posting commercial stuff is allowed here.

Backup your files and make a clean install of XP on your harddisc just like me the other day. That will give your system a little boost.
After that you should make the standard registy modifications (define your CPU cache, define your RAM, enlarge the harddisc cache…).
Use Microsofts tweakUI to make your taskbar respond faster…

Truly… there many friends who believe that I have 2 Ghz CPU because my system is faster than theirs…

Regarding the heat I must admit that I have the same problem
so I installed Notebook Hardware Control too read out my system temperatures. I was pretty suprised. The CPU uses to be cooler than the harddisc.

Last week I had my TR compile some stuff and my temp peaks where as follow:

CPU: 61 degree Celsius
HDD: 68 degree Celsius!!!

Normal desktop HDDs would normally die at 68 C.
Thats not enought to fry your breakfast bacon on it but you dont want to touch it :twisted:

However… I read the specs of my Toshiba harddisc and
it says that the highest operation temp. would be 62 degree Celsius.
Im still asking myself whether theyre talking about the envirement temp or the hdd temp.

Whatever… I believe that my harddisc is about to die due to these temperatures. I believe that theyre getting hotter as they get old.
New 40 GB Toshiba 1.8 inch HDD is arround 80 Dollars…

It of course could also be the fan. But since I havent found a tool to read out RPM yet I cant really tell. BUT: I have dismantled the whole fan, cleaned and lubricated it. Nothing has changed   :wink:

Once you have removed the palmrest its pretty easy to change HDD.
Its not much to invest in order to keep your TR alive and have some more fun with it.

Why I want to keep my TR? Because a nin hour lasting extended battery cost only 50 Dollars :D :o

It wouldnt be that cheap if I had a brand new laptop
CU

P.S:
Thats bluetooth  

I think I’m leaning towards keeping my TR3AP until it dies.  Hopefully, I don’t mess anything up while upgrading my TR.  :shock:

I was looking at threads about upgrading RAM and I have a few questions.  I guess I’m supposed to have a matching pair of memory modules of PCGA-MM512U like two PC2100s or PC2700s to make it 1GB RAM.

1) But what’s the difference between PC2100 and PC2700?  I think I know PC2100 is DDR 266mhz and PC2700 is DDR 333mhz.  But what does that mean?

2) How do I know which memory module is already installed for my TR?  I think I read it’s PC2100… someone please confirm this for me.

3) Also, am I supposed to buy two 512MB memory modules to replace it or just add one 512MB to alreay existing memory module?

As for HDD, how do I know when it’s “dead”?  I want to upgrade it to anything about 60GB but I can’t find one for Hitachi.  I read somewhere to use the same brand when upgrading/replacing.  So, if I do decide to upgrade it to 60GB Hitachi HDD, what else do I need to run it?  I have never done any of this upgrading stuff as I’ve just went out and bought a new PC or a notebook to replace it after a year or two.

Thanks for reading and I hope to hear from you guys!

P.S. - any recommendations for parts would be awesome!

Where do you get a $50 extended Battery?

[quote author=“silyb0y”]
After that you should make the standard registy modifications (define your CPU cache, define your RAM, enlarge the harddisc cache…).
Use Microsofts tweakUI to make your taskbar respond faster…

Truly… there many friends who believe that I have 2 Ghz CPU because my system is faster than theirs…

I m higly interested about those mods. Could you please explain further :wink:
thanks a lot

Regarding the battery:
Please search the forum. There was a site on the net mentioned thats supposed to sell the extended battery for ABOUT 50 Dollars. But they only deliver within the US so I havent ordered…

Regarding the mods:
Please search for them on the internet. They are really standard registry mods. I read about them on a german site:   .

They really make your computer run smoother and respond faster.
It would be way too much to post a howto here but let me enumerate them so you can search for them:

Bootlogo off
BootMenuDelay 0 seconds
Tidy up autostarts
Kill service when shutdown (windows waits 20 sec)
More than 2 downloads at once
make ntfs faster (switch of 8.3 dos names + switch of file making date)
remove journals
set own prefetching
remove built in zip
more than 256kb second level cache (TR have 1024)
more HDD cache
remove indexing
set large DNS cache
... and more

Thanks silyb0y but modyfing the registry keys might be tricky. Thats why i need a trusfull website..
I have done a few mods from your website but i dont understand everything since i had to use an automatic translator..

Anyone has a good registry mods web site in english or french for me?
Thanks a lot!!