Refurbishing my old laptop

[Dwyer_9]

Hi guys,

I'm about to move overseas for work, and as such won't be able to take my PC with me, so was thinking about getting a new laptop to use for YouTube/Netflix/Word Processing, and maybe some light gaming. Wanting to save money, I dug out my old laptop today, to see if I can make it into something that I can take with me. For reference, it is a Asus K50IN model (https/www.asus.com/us/Laptops/K50IN/specifications/) with 4GB of RAM. It also only has Windows Vista, as it was purchased at the back end of 2009.

I've done a clean install of Windows today, and it's running pretty well, but would I be able to use it for what I want? The sort of games I want to play would be Football Manager, OOTP Baseball, and maybe Diablo 3, nothing really more high end than that.

Also, 4 keys on the keyboard aren't working (the 8, I, K and > keys), would that likely be fixed by replacing the keyboard? I reconnected the ribbon today and it didn't fix the issue.

So, is it worth maybe upgrading the Hard Drive and maybe RAM, or just investing in a new laptop? I'm in Australia, so prices for new laptops are a little high.

Any help is much appreciated

 

[USAFRet]

I'm about to move overseas for work

The keyboard is toast.
The 9 year old battery is toast.
The OS (Vista) is toast.

New laptop time.

 

[Martell1977]

If it has 4gb of RAM, that is the max, so nothing to do there. The CPU is more than likely soldered in, so nothing there. You could put a cheap 7200rpm drive or SSD in there, but that will just make it feel a little smoother, but will be a noticeable boost.

Keyboard needs to be replaced. eBay is great for that.

Basically what you have there is a fairly decent web browsing machine. The games you mention would likely be too much for it.

As for the battery, depends on if you have to have it plugged into the wall to use the machine for long. I have a Dell laptop from 2008 and the original battery works perfectly.

If you're not running 64-bit Vista, the system wont be able to use all of the 4gb of RAM. If you have the 32-bit Vista, your license will work for the 64-bit, just need to find a clean, legitimate ISO of it. Make sure to get the same version (basic or premium) as you have now, can't upgrade.

 

[Dwyer_9]

If it has 4gb of RAM, that is the max, so nothing to do there. The CPU is more than likely soldered in, so nothing there. You could put a cheap 7200rpm drive or SSD in there, but that will just make it feel a little smoother, but will be a noticeable boost.

Keyboard needs to be replaced. eBay is great for that.

Basically what you have there is a fairly decent web browsing machine. The games you mention would likely be too much for it.

As for the battery, depends on if you have to have it plugged into the wall to use the machine for long. I have a Dell laptop from 2008 and the original battery works perfectly.

If you're not running 64-bit Vista, the system wont be able to use all of the 4gb of RAM. If you have the 32-bit Vista, your license will work for the 64-bit, just need to find a clean, legitimate ISO of it. Make sure to get the same version (basic or premium) as you have now, can't upgrade.

Thanks, will check out the options for changing to 64-bit, see if I can figure it out. Will check out ebay for a new keyboard, and might see how much a new Hard Drive will run me.

Do you think it would be worth upgrading to a later version of windows?

 

[Martell1977]

Windows 10 would help it start faster, but the performance difference isn't worth it in my opinion.

As for changing to 64-bit, once you have the ISO, it will require a fully Windows reinstall., but considering the GPU shares the system RAM, it's worth the effort.

If you upgrade the drive, make sure it's 7200 rpm or a SSD, you do not want a SSHD, 5400rpm or 5900rpm. The laptop SSHD's are 5400rpm on the storage side and not worth it.

I wouldn't put too much moeny into the machine, but it could be a good machine until you can afford something new.

 

[Dwyer_9]

Windows 10 would help it start faster, but the performance difference isn't worth it in my opinion.

As for changing to 64-bit, once you have the ISO, it will require a fully Windows reinstall., but considering the GPU shares the system RAM, it's worth the effort.

If you upgrade the drive, make sure it's 7200 rpm of a SSD, you do not want a SSHD, 5400rpm or 5900rpm. The laptop SSHD's are 5400rpm on the storage side and not worth it.

I wouldn't put too much moeny into the machine, but it could be a good machine until you can afford something new.

Thanks mate, will be looking into it, but also considering just buying a new one. Thanks for the advice.

 

[rune2h]

To be honest, especially given the keyboard issues, your current laptop seems a little tired. I would also vote for just putting some money towards a new one. Non-basic repairs (anything apart from memory or storage upgrades) tend to get pricey, and they are of course quite involved. It just doesn't seem cost effective to then end up with a refurbished 2009 laptop which you will also need a new battery for, and the genuine ones don't come cheap.

Games like Diablo 3 don't require too much GPU power, although you still may want a GTX class card, not sure what you are looking to spend though. This inclusion will put you in the $600-$700 range (USD).

 

[Dwyer_9]

To be honest, especially given the keyboard issues, your current laptop seems a little tired. I would also vote for just putting some money towards a new one. Non-basic repairs (anything apart from memory or storage upgrades) tend to get pricey, and they are of course quite involved. It just doesn't seem cost effective to then end up with a refurbished 2009 laptop which you will also need a new battery for, and the genuine ones don't come cheap.

Games like Diablo 3 don't require too much GPU power, although you still may want a GTX class card, not sure what you are looking to spend though. This inclusion will put you in the $600-$700 range (USD).

Thanks for the reply mate, I've been looking a bit at new laptops, what do you think of one like this:

https/www.binglee.com.au/acer-nx-gvrsa-005-aspire-5-notebook

Looks like it would run most of the games I'd like, and is under the $1000 AUD budget that I don't want to stretch too much. Just not sure if it's a decent laptop.

 

[Martell1977]

To be honest, especially given the keyboard issues, your current laptop seems a little tired. I would also vote for just putting some money towards a new one. Non-basic repairs (anything apart from memory or storage upgrades) tend to get pricey, and they are of course quite involved. It just doesn't seem cost effective to then end up with a refurbished 2009 laptop which you will also need a new battery for, and the genuine ones don't come cheap.

Games like Diablo 3 don't require too much GPU power, although you still may want a GTX class card, not sure what you are looking to spend though. This inclusion will put you in the $600-$700 range (USD).

Thanks for the reply mate, I've been looking a bit at new laptops, what do you think of one like this:

https/www.binglee.com.au/acer-nx-gvrsa-005-aspire-5-notebook

Looks like it would run most of the games I'd like, and is under the $1000 AUD budget that I don't want to stretch too much. Just not sure if it's a decent laptop.

If that is your budget and you'd rather just get a new laptop, how about this one:
https/www.newegg.com/global/au/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834234954

 

[rune2h]

Looks like it would run most of the games I'd like, and is under the $1000 AUD budget that I don't want to stretch too much. Just not sure if it's a decent laptop.

I do quite like the Acer models. Acer makes a laptop called the Nitro 5 which is very competitive in the $750 range and the specs on it will run circles around what you need. It has the look of a "gaming laptop" though, so I am not sure if that is what you want.

Honestly, it's hard to get a bad deal as long as you're paying attention. Asus, Dell, Acer, MSI, etc all make great laptops with dedicated GPUs in the $800 (USD) range, my advice would be just try not to focus on just specs. Read reviews and try to obtain information on less obvious things that only owners of the laptop would know. For example, bad battery life, inadequate cooling, etc.