I’ve nicknamed my laptop Laggard :-(

The HP PC laptop I bought three or four years ago is showing its ancient age :-( It's far too slow to run Tinkercad.

It takes ages to start up Firefox and much of the software in the computer, switch between tabs on the browser.

That’s why I’ve given the nickname Laggard to this laptop. If it was in a horse race 🏇 , it’d finish several laps behind the modern laptops lol.

So what will I do with Laggard? Put something like Linux on it? Or fire Laggard into the e-waste basket and replace it with a modern and fast laptop? Any recommendations for fast PC laptops for a price around $500?

FYI, I’ve typed this post on my iPad which I bought about three years ago. It runs software very well.

Many thanks in advance,
Barry.

Only four years old and it's that slow already? Could just be the OS bogged down, try a clean install of Windows first.

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Originally Posted by barryk

The HP PC laptop I bought three or four years ago .... too slow .

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Think of PCs like a car with a trailer attached. You add stuff to the trailer, more and more until it's higher than the car roof.
Bloat accumulates, no matter the uninstalling or CCleaner type tools (which err on the side of caution).

Back it up, do a fresh install from scratch and put your docs etc back. It will have lost that trailer....

Whats the specs of the laptop
CPU , RAM
A peice of cheap crap will allways be cheap crap :)

Assuming its reasonable spec ,
in this order of preference
1) Install a SSD hard Drive
2) Add more RAM if less than 8Gb
3) clean install on new SSD drive
4) clean reload on existimg hard drive (may not help)

its often the old hard drive literally slowing down. SSD is the fix for that
Ive fixed many speed issues just with a SSD Hard Drive

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 1101

Whats the specs of the laptop
CPU , RAM
A peice of cheap crap will allways be cheap crap :)

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Yes, but I saw this a lot as a tech...slowER, not the slow from day one.
And a clean install does wonders.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by piroska

Yes, but I saw this a lot as a tech...slowER, not the slow from day one.
And a clean install does wonders.

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some peoples expectations as to PC performance does change
The PC / Laptop may be exactly the same speed , but they later perceive it as running too slow .
Sometimes they are simply expecting too much from a very low spec .

I see that from some of my customers. Too low spec & far to many programs open at once: many docs & spreadsheets ,many pdfs, 10+ web pages open at once (all too much for the 4Gb RAM) , and a very slow HD .
They complain about slow speed , wanting a magic quick fix , refusing to spend even the $200 in hardware for RAM & SSD . :badpc:

A clean install used to be my goto as well, but wont help if the old HD is running slow.
Im seeing that more often in the last couple of years, mechanical HD's running at a fraction of the speed they did when new , to the extent it can make the PC barely usable .

"It takes ages to start up Firefox and much of the software in the computer"

classic symptom of needing a SSD . Thats usually the easiest fix .
every time I installed SSD because of speed complaints, it fixed the issue (recent years) .
Thats now my standard response . If CUSTOMERS wont pay for a SSD , they wont pay to try a reload either .

If you dont want to spend money on an oldish laptop, they try a wipe & reload .

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 1101

Whats the specs of the laptop
CPU , RAM
A piece of cheap crap will always be cheap crap :)

Assuming its reasonable spec ,
in this order of preference
1) Install a SSD hard Drive
2) Add more RAM if less than 8Gb
3) clean install on new SSD drive
4) clean reload on existimg hard drive (may not help)

It's often the old hard drive literally slowing down. SSD is the fix for that
I've fixed many speed issues just with a SSD Hard Drive

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Thanks 1101 for your reply.

The specs for Laggard are:
CPU: Intel Celeron CPU N280 2.16 GHz
RAM: 2.00GB (1.89 GB usable).

Does this specs info shed any light on why Laggard is going at snail or laggard pace? :confused:

Here's a list of SSDs at the PB Tech website: https://www.pbtech.co.nz/category/co...drives?sfr=ssd .

Cheapest one may be $54 but can SSDs fit inside my HP laptop?

And how do you accurately measure HD speed?

Cheers.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by barryk

The specs for Laggard are:
CPU: Intel Celeron CPU N280 2.16 GHz
RAM: 2.00GB (1.89 GB usable).
Cheers.

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Thats VERY low spec.
A SINGLE Core CPU (2 thread)
Not really enough RAM for Win10 .

just my opinion
If it was me , I wouldnt put any money into it.
At the very least you'll want more RAM and a SSD . Some of those cheapies have a max of 2Gb RAM (Hopeless)
Youre cluctching at straws it you want that thing to run fast .

I bought a 14" i5 with 4GB notebook for $120 a year or so ago , then spent $120ish on an SSD & used ram to give me a descent spec'ed Notebook , dirt cheap.

A wipe & reload or Win10 reset might help, that wont cost you anything .