Gateway Parts

Upgrade 90s Compaq Laptop to today's standards?

I have a very old Compaq laptop from the late 90s (its running Windows 98 right now). I was wondering if it is possible to use it as a case for newer, better parts. All the DIY guides I've read say I need to get a bare-bones notebook, and I just want to use the old laptop as a case and get upgrade it. Is this possible?

Public Comments

1. Laptops are probably the hardest thing to upgrade because the manufacturer makes the part specific to the case so you're probably stuck with upgrading the ram, harddrive, and maybe the cd drive. Sorry but that's the sad truth with laptops.
2. laptops can't be upgraded except ram, hard drive and dvd drive
3. In my opinion upgrading a laptop is easy. If you have the parts you may be able to upgrade it.Compatibility is a major issue as all the parts must be able to work with all the others. If you tell me the specifications of the parts you have i may be able to analyze your situation and give you a proper answer.
4. To make the best use of your laptop use it as a boat anchor.
5. Yes and NO, its is possible (if you can find the parts for sale), but the cost in parts would be similar to a brand new, and better laptop. You would have to fit a new motherboard to take the latest processors / Ram speeds / hard drives/ graphics / Etc). An old laptop will have old standards, the screen would be of a low resolution, the battery might not be compatible, the hard drive will be slow and small. Plus a 10 year old computer would be on its last legs, components could fail any time (keyboard/ mouse pad/ battery / screen/ etc.) Laptop are not at all easy to upgrade (beyond the very basics), you would be far better selling it for a few quid, and buying a new one, The case has little / no value. If your interested in upgrading computers, next time buy a desktop. If you do decide to re-build your laptop, then expect to spend many weeks trying to source the components and spend many hours adjusting your case, and spending far more than a new laptop would cost. Results would be ad-hock / expensive / time consuming and you will still have low quality screen that could not show HD standards.