Is memory upgrade for Inspiron 600m worth it?

[Muad Dib]

I received a Dell Inspiron 600m for free. Has 1.6 GHz CPU and 80GB HDD.

Installed Windows 7 x86 and have all the correct drivers. Everything is working fine.

It is slow but not too bad with hard page faults high and CPU usage hitting 100% depending on activity.

Currently has 768GB memory @266MHz (it actually uses 333MHz but has a one 512GB stick @266 that reduces the overall speed).

I can upgrade the RAM to 2GB @333MHz for $46. (It also needs a nes battery but that is a secondary consideration.)

Intended usage is web-surfing, email and Word. Can anyone who has this model comment on whether the $46 will be worth it in terms of performance boost? It seems to be a pretty solid, though older, machine. A bit more "snap" in web surfing would make it fine for the intended usage....

 

[edwar]

I'd say don't bother. What you should do is Install XP, or the original version of Windows that came on it using the License key on the COA sticker.

Win 7 take a lot of resources, much more then XP, and really isn't meant to be run on that model notebook.

XP will work just fine for your intended usage of that system.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

I can't comment on that specific machine or processor, but.....I'd expect Windows 7 to be sluggish on ANY machine with such a small amount of memory.

It runs pretty well on 2 GB---not a whole lot of difference moving from 2 to 4.

My PC uses 700 to 800 MB of RAM immediately after a fresh boot and typically uses 1.3 to 1.5 GB during the day when doing random tasks.

 

[Phone Man]

Since you are getting a high amount of page faults it is running short on memory. I would go for the memory upgrade and it should make a difference but how much I can't say.

Jim