Processor upgrade capacity for Armada 7730mt?

[westvirginia]

I have a bone stock 7730 MT that I was thinking of upgrading. It's basically just a surfing machine that I have wirelessly networked to my main machine. It's great for the surfing and taking out of town, but, I just can't seem to leave anything alone and I want to upgrade some stuff. I have maxxed out the RAM and discovered that I need a 12MM HDD (I'll probably buy cheap from ebay). My problem is, that I can't tell how high I can go with the processor. Can I just get any MMC-1 and drop it in? Are there other considerations? The current setup is P166MMX with max RAM (144) and a 2.1G HDD. I'm running 98SE and office 97, but I want to upgrade both to 2K, which is nigh on impossible with the current setup. There are actually several inexpensive options on ebay for upgrade, but I don't want to whiz away money for something that isn't compatible. Any help out there? If you can point me to a website I would appreciate that as well.

I appreciate any help you guys can give me. I've been lurking here for a short while and you guys really know your stuff. Thanks again!

Jack

 

[gargouille]

Lots of the information is "fetched"...lots is from experience with product.
I'd have to go look it up...it'll take 144 Mb of 60 ns ram...
No kidding, sold for around $5000 in '97?

 

[westvirginia]

Gargouille,

If you have lots of experience, then lay it on me, by all means. Any help you can give would be greatly appreciated. I have been all over the compaq website and through countless pages of google searches. I just can't find the answer. I e-mailed compaq, but they haven't gotten back to me yet (3 days).

 

[Snickle]

P166MMX?
Problem is that the Pentium MMX line quit at 233MHz for the desktops, the mobile line may have gone a bit further. The only other CPUs that replace the Intel Pentium is the AMD and some Cyrix/IBM. I don't recall that AMD had a direct replacement for the Mobile Intel chip. Downside to any upgrade of a notebook or laptop is getting parts to fit inside the case. They are so closely designed that there's not much upgradeable, usually only RAM and Hard drive. The BIOS may also have to be flash/upgraded to accept higher-capacity hard drives [my 4.6GB had to be to handle 10GB and 20GB].

 

[westvirginia]

Yeah, Berton, that's what makes me hesitant. On the one hand, I've been told the highest I could upgrade would be the 233 you mentioned (the guy told me I had a socket 7), but I've been told that the processor was an mmc-1, and the machine will take any other mmc-1 processor with no problems. If the latter is true, I can go up to a 333 (or maybe it was 366, I'm not sure). I e-mailed Compaq but it's been 2 or 3 days at this point. I was hoping to find an answer somewhere on the net, but thus far have been unsuccessful. You'd think someone like Tiger or C-net would put this info together, thinking you would go to their site for info then just buy the parts from them. I wouldn't think it would be that terribly difficult to compile a bunch of databases. You let the user input their particular system specs, click a button, and out spits all the available upgrades the retailer has or can get for you.

Ahh, well. Thanks for the info. If anyone knows of a website that might help me just let me know by posting here or e-mailing me.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[gargouille]

Nearest I can tell it will only take a 233...which is only a squeak away from whatcha' have...if I find out differently letcha' know. Might keep an eye out on Ebay...
Gawd would be good to see the Smokies again...'er even the Blue Ridge...

 

[westvirginia]

Well, I found a guy on ebay who will let me return a 333 mmc-1 processor if it doesn't work in the machine, all I'll be out is about $8 shipping. I think I'm gonna try it. If that works then I'll spend the money on the HDD upgrade. I'll let you guys know how it turns out. This thing is turning into a monster. I was originally given the machine for free by a fellow IT buddy. I thought "Cool! free laptop!" Since then I've bought RAM, wireless networking components, a new modem card... My wife might just kill me over this "free" computer.

BTW, gar, you mentioned a couple different parts of the Appalachians. What part of the country to you hail from?

 

[gargouille]

Smack in the middle

 

[Snickle]

gargouille, what is 'smack in the middle'?

 

[gargouille]

smack in the middle=geographic/geodetic center of the US of A

 

[westvirginia]

I seem to remember that being in Kansas, or was it Nebraska? Some people were trying at one time to get the US capital moved out there. Or flyover land, as some northeasterners (the arrogant ones) refer to it. I love computers. I'm not even that old (30) but I remember when talking to someone in Kansas cost about $3/minute on the phone and you had to pay $15 to send a letter via UPS or Fedex. Now I do all the talking (and file sharing, etc.) I want for $9.95/month. I think way too few people appreciate what nerds like Bill Gates have done.

Yeah, gar, I miss the Blue Ridge too. I had to move to Atlanta shortly after finishing college (for work) and only get to see my beloved WV a couple times a year.

Sorry, didn't mean to turn this into anything silly.

Jack