Notebooks operating on Windows XP or Vista require large amounts of RAM memory and hard drive space.  And every time you install a new program to your computer, the need for both increases.  If you are looking to upgrade the performance of your older notebook, there are two things that are absolute must do’s.  The first is adding more RAM memory since the more memory you have available to the operating system, the faster the system will run.  The second is replacing or adding a new hard drive.  With the increased storage capacity, your operating system will run more efficiently, there is room to increase the cache area to simulate for memory, and you will have more room for programs, media, and data backup.

If you are already using the Vista operating system, then you must be aware of the Microsoft Experience Index.  This is Microsoft’s way of rating the overall ability of your computer so that software publishers have an easier way of informing the customer of the resource and performance needs of the software.  So as new software become available and more performance is required, you will be able to easily determine if your computer can run the software efficiently.  Memory and Hard drive space have the most significant impact on the E.I.

Notebook RAM Memory Upgrade

Company: Kingston Technology
Product: Notebook Memory
Model: KAC-MEMC/1G
Web Site: http://www.kingston.com
Retail Price: $150 USD Each

There are a lot of choices when it comes to upgrading your notebook memory, but one of my favorite companies in the whole world is Kingston.  From their wide range of products to fit every model computer and notebook, outstanding customer service and support, lifetime warranty on memory, and a proven attitude of respect and concern for their customers and employees, makes Kingston one of the most respected companies in the world.  So it is a brand of memory I have absolutely no doubt in recommending.  I even had the opportunity to tour their factory in Taiwan and see firsthand the level of technology, state of the art manufacturing, and quality control that goes into every Kingston product.

Kingston has a wide range of performance level, size, and type of memory for every computer.  However, for most notebooks, the available choices are mainly memory size.  Check with the notebook manufacturer for the type and size of memory that is compatible with your model.  For our notebook, we upgraded the memory from the standard 512MB to 2GB.  As in most notebooks, the Acer has 2 memory slots that contains two 256MB SIMMS.  Of course it would be nice if they installed one 512MB SIMM so that you could simply plug in a new SIMM into the second slot.  But most notebook manufacturers will install 2 smaller SIMMS instead of 1 larger one because the cost is less to use 2 smaller SIMMS.  So in order to get to 2GB, we had to remove the two 256MB SIMMS and install two Kingston 1GB SIMMS.  What happens to the older 256MB SIMMS?  Well unless you know someone who just happens to be able to use them, they will end up in a box never to be seen or used again or thrown away.

Memory is easy to install, with most notebooks having a door on the bottom to access the 2 memory slots, but if you unfamiliar with the procedures for a safe upgrade, I would recommend have a technician at the store do the upgrade for you.  This is so simple that most stores will do it for free.

As there are many reviews available that cover the technical performance of different brands of memory, we will not cover that subject here.  Our testing of the Kingston Notebook Memory shows solid, reliable performance with speed and data specifications that are almost an exact match to the original factory memory in the notebook.  So you will not see faster speed from the memory, but the increase from 512MB to 2GB will have a major impact to the overall speed of the computer.

Under Microsoft Vista, our notebook had a Memory Experience Index of 2.0 which is a rating of the memory operations per second of the notebook.  After upgrading the memory, the new Memory Experience Index is now 3.3.  If you have spent any time trying to improve your Vista E.I., you will know that an increase of 2.0 to 3.3 for any individual index is very significant and the improvement in overall performance is very noticeable.

So if you are looking to improve the performance of your notebook, the best option is to increase the amount of memory and the best choice is Kingston memory.  They are one of my highest recommendations.

Internal and External Hard Drive Upgrade

Company: Seagate Technology
Product: 2.5” Notebook Hard Drives
Model: Momentus 5400.3 160GB PATA
Momentus 7200.1 100GB PATA
Web Site: http://www.seagate.com
Retail Price: No SRP.  See your local retailer.

As you add programs to your notebook and especially if you decide to upgrade to Windows Vista, the need for more hard drive space becomes the second most important thing you can do to improve the performance of your notebook.  The combination of total capacity and improved drive speed will have a significant affect on your daily computer life.  Seagate Technology is one of the oldest drive manufacturers in the industry with a reputation for solid reliability and quality.  In all the years that I have worked with computer, and trust me it’s a lot of years, I have never had a Seagate drive fail.  As a comparison, I have a box full of drives from other companies that have completely failed or with lots of bad sectors.  In the last two years alone, I had 4 Toshiba / Hitachi drives fail on me and are now completely dead “paperweights”.

If you decide to upgrade or install Windows Vista, I strongly recommend you install a higher capacity, faster Seagate hard drive before Vista.  Most notebook computers have a standard 4200 rpm, 40-60GB hard drive.  By changing from a 60GB, 4200 rpm drive to the Seagate 7200.1, 7200 rpm, 100GB drive, the Windows Vista Hard Drive Experience Index went from 2.8 to 4.0. 

We tested both the Seagate Momentus 5400.3 and 7200.1 drives as notebook internal replacement drives and as USB 2.0 external drives using a standard external case.  Both drives performed very well with no problems or errors, even after months of extensive use as traveling “work” drives and being exposed to a wide range of environments, weather, temperature, etc.  The 7200.1 did have higher levels of heat, due to its rpm speed, but nothing out of the specification range.  Both drives averaged around 49 Celsius after prolonged use inside the notebook.  The original drive in the notebook averaged 53 Celsius.  This is a little high, due to the poor cooling of the Acer Notebook used, but still within the normal specifications.  We feel the temperatures experienced were more an issue of poor design on the notebook side than anything to do with the Seagate drive.

The Seagate drives deliver full-desktop performance in a small size for notebook use.  Both have higher rpm speeds than standard notebook drives and with capacities in the Momentus line ranging from 40GB-160GB, you are sure to find one that meets your needs and price range.

The Seagate Momentus 7200.1 model offers 7200 rpm performance in 60, 80, and 100 Gigabyte sizes, while the 5400.3 offers 5400 rpm performance in 40, 80, 100, 120, and 160 Gigabyte sizes.  Both are very robust with high shock tolerances and fast speed.  Standard Parallel Ultra ATA and high speed Serial ATA versions are available in most Momentus models.  5200 rpm drives will have almost 50% more performance than standard 4200 rpm drives while using the same battery consumption level.  7200 rpm drives will have almost 70% more performance.

You can find lots of comparison data on the web, so we will not cover that here, but either drive will give very noticeable improvements in speed, performance, and capacity.  On our test notebook, the boot up time on Windows XP, using the Momentus 7200.1 drive, was reduced by 30% over the original 4200 rpm drive.

Plus the additional capacity was great for all our MP3s, video, data, and program storage.  So if you are looking for more storage, go with the Seagate Momentus 5400.3 160GB drive and if speed and performance is more important, then consider the Seagate Momentus 7200.1 100GB.

In addition, the Seagate Worldwide, 5 Year Limited Warranty is one of the longest warranties in the industry and show’s their commitment for customer satisfaction and product reliability.  While this does not guarantee that you will never have a problem with a Seagate drive, at least you know they will stand behind the quality of their product.

For those of you interested in the technical details of the Momentus drives, here are the specifications.  For more information, check the Seagate web site

Specifications Momentus 5400.3 160GB Momentus 7200.1 100GB
Model ST9160821A ST910021A
Interface Parallel Ultra ATA Parallel Ultra ATA

Performance
Sustained Internal Transfer Rate (MB/s) 44 45.8
Maximum External Transfer Rate (MB/s) 100/150 100/150
Cache (MB) 8 8
Average Seek (ms) 12.5 10.5
Average Latency (ms) 5.6 4.2
Performance Level 5400 7200

Configuration
Disk/Heads 2/4 2/4
Bytes/Sector 512 512
Logical CHA 92,049/16/63 16,383/16/63
Recording Method Perpendicular RLL 0,11

Reliability
Head Rest Method QuietStep and Rampload QuietStep and Rampload
Load/Unload Cycles >600,000 600,000
Nonrecoverable Read Errors per Bit Read 1 per 1014 Bits Read 1 per 1014 Bits Read

Power Management
Startup Current 5V (amps max) 1.0 1.1
Power Management (watts)
Seek 2.0 2.6
R/W 2.0/1.8 2.2/2.2
Idle/Standby 0.8/0.2 1.3/.26

Environmental
Temperature, Operating (Celsius) 0 to 60 5 to 55
Temperature, Nonoperating (Celsius) -40 to 70 -40 to 70
Shock, Operating: 2ms (Gs) 350 250
Shock, Nonoperating: 1ms (Gs) 900 900
Acoustics (bels-sound power)
Idle 2.3 2.5
Performance Seek 2.9 2.9

Physical
Height (In/mm) .374/9.5 .3745/9.5
Width (In/mm) 2.75/69.85 2.75/69.85
Depth (In/mm) 3.945/100.2 3.945/100.2
Weight (lb/g) .22/100 .254/115

If you are looking to improve the performance of your notebook with increased hard drive capacity, speed, and performance, Seagate delivers all of the above with quality and reliability.

-- Harvey Lee,
Senior Technology Editor