Which would be better?

[T2manner]

If you had a laptop, would it be better to just upgrade the processor, graphics card, etc. over time, or just buy a new laptop.

[CharmyBee]

If you had a laptop, would it be better to just upgrade the processor, graphics card, etc. over time, or just buy a new laptop.

Hah, if you can! All one could do most of the time is up the hard drive or the RAM. Laptops are a market of 'what you see is what you get'. Extra, final decision making is required. If you think you can buy a bad laptop now and expect to make it elite in 5 years or less, contact your local recycling center.

[T2manner]

Hah, if you can! All one could do most of the time is up the hard drive or the RAM. Laptops are a market of 'what you see is what you get'. Extra, final decision making is required.

my friend argues that you can change out anything most of the time. he says you just have to "know what you're doing'

[CharmyBee]

my friend argues that you can change out anything most of the time. he says you just have to "know what you're doing'

Maybe your friend watches too much MacGyver. Not everyone is MacGyver... and voiding the warranty isn't worth the risk for unsupported upgrades to laptop models.

[seteshf]

my friend argues that you can change out anything most of the time. he says you just have to "know what you're doing'

Well considering that the GPU is always soldered into the main board and the CPU *sometimes* is, I'd sure like to meet your friend.

:P

[Tipped OuT]

Well considering that the GPU is always soldered into the main board and the CPU *sometimes* is, I'd sure like to meet your friend.

:P

Just get a new motherboard for the laptop. That will replace the GPU, and possibly the CPU too. All done. Theoretically speaking of course. It involves much more then that, but you catch my drift.

[T2manner]

Just get a new motherboard for the laptop. That will replace the GPU, and possibly the CPU too. All done. Theoretically speaking of course. It involves much more then that, but you catch my drift.

are motherboards easy to replace?

[Tipped OuT]

are motherboards easy to replace?

I have no idea. I'm not a hardware expert, I'm a software guy. I just know the basics.

[cariboo]

Changing a laptop motherboard is fairly easy, if you do't mind dealing with 20 - 30 tiny screws. The big problem is finding a motherboard to fit the laptops casing. It seems like every laptop model line has a slighly different casing then any other model line, even if they look the same.

[Tipped OuT]

Changing a laptop motherboard is fairly easy, if you do't mind dealing with 20 - 30 tiny screws. The big problem is finding a motherboard to fit the laptops casing. It seems like every laptop model line has a slighly different casing then any other model line, even if they look the same.

This is where the hard modding comes in. Just break the case apart so you can fit in that new shiny motherboard. xD

[MikeTheC]

Well, considering almost everything you're talking about is a soldered surface-mounted component in a laptop, how is it you're planning on changing out those bits?