Asus 1201N - worth upgrading to 8GB / 64bit windows?

[Guest]

Hey all,

I have an Asus 1201N which I bought as a browsing / video playback laptop for out of work. My work is likely to change soon and I could do with a more speedy device, and potentially something I could run the odd virtual PC on. Before I write off the idea of using the 1201N which to be honest I rather enjoy the portability of I was wondering with the 1.6Ghz Dual Core Atom CPU 330 in there is it even worth:

- Upgrading to 64bit Windows 7
- Upgrading to 4GB RAM
- Upgrading to 8GB RAM
- Upgrading the 5400rpm HDD to a 7200 or SSD

??

Certainly the most limiting factor for most activities now is the 2GB of RAM, but when I use something like photshop it crawls, even when compared to my old 1.8Ghz single core Pentium M. Is the CPU basically rubbish and I'd be better off investing in a proper dual or quad core business grade machine?

I have checked the CPU using Intels Processor ID Utility and it reports I'm good for Intel 64 Architecture, not sure if that means I can run 64bit windows.

Thanks in advance.
Tom

 

[buwish]

Chances are that the motherboard will not support 8GB of RAM, as most netbooks have no need to run memory intensive programs. I'd say save your money and don't bother upgrading it. Depending on your new work, it would probably be best to go out and get a core i3, i5, 4GB of RAM, etc...

What is your budget? We can take a look around and see what is out there for your particular usage.

 

[Marco71]

It does
I have 8 GB in it since today. Planning to install windows 7 64bit.
The upgrade from 2gb to 4 is worth it. The 8bg I don't notice yet since I am still on 32bit Windows that came with it.

Let you know how it goes.

 

[Ellen311]

It does
I have 8 GB in it since today. Planning to install windows 7 64bit.
The upgrade from 2gb to 4 is worth it. The 8bg I don't notice yet since I am still on 32bit Windows that came with it.

Let you know how it goes.

Marco;
I just found this thread and have just installed 8gb ram in my 1201N. Am waiting for the 64 Windows 7 disk to arrive. Have you been happy with your upgrade?
Ellen

 

[Marco71]

Marco;
I just found this thread and have just installed 8gb ram in my 1201N. Am waiting for the 64 Windows 7 disk to arrive. Have you been happy with your upgrade?
Ellen

Hi,
Well I am very happy with the Upgrade to 4GB Ram this is worth it. Since if you don't you will see that your usable RAM is 1.2 or even 750MB since the Video card uses the rest as a buffer. After my upgrade I also didn't experience any buffering problems and bluescreens any more. This used to happen to me any time I played any video from web or disk.

When I upgraded to 64 Bit I found no difference in performance. This is because the motherboard can't handle more than 4GB. I wanted to have 8GB in it and I have. But only 4GB gets used. This simply is the max the motherboard bus can handle. I also tried Linux(Ubuntu) That runs very nicely but still max 4GB recognized.

Hope this helps.

Kind Regards
Marco