Hello, been a while since i popped along here.

I have a TR1 which I’m very happy with, have upgraded the WIFI card, now I’m wondering if can I upgrade the processor and if so what is the max speed I could use?

anyone…?

You can’t upgrade the processor.

It’s fixed on the motherboard. There are almost no “real” mobile notebooks in which the processor can be upgraded. Notebooks like the TR, are fine-tuned and typically custom designed.

There is absolutely no way?  :evil:  ARGH!
I was just about to buy a Dothan processor off of eBay. 
Can’t even…“rip”...it out and then resolder the circuits that will hold the new one in?
Or…sumthing.  :(

well if you want to do that then by all means go ahead, but I don’t rate your chances…  :shock:

[quote author=“OnMyWayUp”]There is absolutely no way?  :evil:  ARGH!
I was just about to buy a Dothan processor off of eBay. 
Can’t even…“rip”...it out and then resolder the circuits that will hold the new one in?
Or…sumthing.  :(

Well, do you want a more scientific reason?

The Pentium M 900, 1000, or 1100Mhz ULV processors typically run using a 1.0V rating. All the new Dothan chips need up to 1.276-1.34V. Additionally, the ULV chips have a maximum thermal guideline of 7W of dissipation. All the regular Pentium Ms (including all the current Dothans) put out as much as 21W.

So, because the motherboard is custom designed, you don’t know if it can support the necessary higher voltages needed to run a Dothan. Addtionally, you don’t know if the built-in heatpipe was designed to dissipate 21W (3x the normal) and you don’t know if the BIOS will even recognize the CPU. So, you’re taking a big risk in trying to upgrade the CPU even if you could.

Good luck on whatever you decide.

[quote author=“gr00vy0ne”]

Well, do you want a more scientific reason?

The Pentium M 900, 1000, or 1100Mhz ULV processors typically run using a 1.0V rating.  the ULV chips have a maximum thermal guideline of 7W of dissipation.

So this must mean i Could switch out my 900 for an 1100 if I was thinking about resoldering all the connections?

Well, you probably have a slightly better chance replacing a 7W chips with another 7W chip. I don’t believe you can actually buy any of the ULV Pentium Ms. At any rate, I don’t think it’s worth doing considering the potential for damaging your notebook.

Also, the increase of 100 or 200Mhz isn’t really going to make much of a difference. At the most, your performance is going to increase 5-8% overall. In purely CPU constrained situations it might be more but it’s likely to be less.

Where do you find out all these spec’s? ULV voltage ratings versus the
regular Pentium M series’.  I didnt even know the TR had an ULV.  I thought it was maxed out at 1.1GHz because Sony was being dumb again
and saying that is was “to keep costs down”. 

If it is in fact an ULV it definitely doesn’t show. Although my old HP zt3010
had the worst build quality ever, it definitely had the best battery life with
a 1.7 GHz Pentium M processor and a 15.4 WXGA.

You probably need to just a little more research on these things. It’s out there. I’d start at Intel’s site for more information about their processors if you want to know more.

If you followed Pentium M development from the beginning you would just know that regular Pentium Ms started at 1.3Ghz and on while ULV Pentium Ms started at 900-1Ghz. Sony was hardly dumbing down the system or trying to keep costs down. From what I know the ULV chips actually cost more than the lower end faster Pentium Ms. If Intel had faster ULVs I’m sure Sony would have used them. At any rate, the decision to use ULV chips is one of the reasons for the phenomenal battery life compared to most other notebooks in the same class.

The use of ULV doesn’t automatically mean better battery life. Most manufacturers try to find the right balance of weight, size, and speed. I’m sure your old HP ZT3010 didn’t last 4.5 hours on a charge and weigh only 3 pounds. If the TR had the same cell battery (adding more weight) as some of these larger notebooks then the battery life of the TR would be something crazy like 7-8 for the normal battery.

Well doesn’t that sort of defeat the purpose of making the TR to be an
ULTRAMOBILE?  Why have it extremely light if you have to carry around
your AC adapter cause you have to charge every 4 hours (at least with
my TR).

You seem to forget that prior to the introduction of the TR, no other “ultramobile” lasted as long with the standard battery and offered the same amount of performance.  Adding the optional extended battery did push the TR to 8-9 hours of batter life which again, is a first in the industry considering you do not have to remove the optical drive to achieve it like other notebooks (which use 2 batteries).

Also, your definition of ultramobile may be different than others. For some, it’s simply the definition of light weight. For others, it might be longer battery life or a combination of both.