Full upgrade of a old windows laptop.

[1 SX]

Picked up a OBD-2 data connecter to usb with included software called OBDLink SX.

Amazon had great reviews for this device and the price was reasonable plus received it within one day. quickly downloaded and installed the program from obdwiz.app, open program, connect usb, then plug into port on car, finally click "connect" in software and the computer does everything else for you plus displays vin year and model info. The software automatically registers the obd serial number to the computer software and the whole process was so simple, I was shocked lol.

But anyways first impressions are pretty positive. The software displays a lot of information it's easy to decipher the update time is very quick and it runs perfectly fine on the most basic hardware this laptop has... Do not mistake though this is not a bi-directional software or anything too intense. Yes it does read transmission codes/data, ABS, OBD. ect. For the price, its a knock out and this laptop is absolutely perfect for the job. it now only has one job and that is to run this software haha.

 

[researcher]

I'm starting to believe a laptop w/software would be better for OBD2 diagnostics.. My OBD2 scanner is convenient but a bigger screen just gives more info at one time!

 

[1 SX]

Found the intel version of the identical laptop, but with a shot hinge locally for again $20.

picked it up and swapped over the SSD, ram, and motherboard into the amd chassis. booted and and here we have it! It's definitely way snappier and the odd-2 software is quicker to respond.

 

[researcher]

Found the intel version of the identical laptop, but with a shot hinge locally for again $20.

picked it up and swapped over the SSD, ram, and motherboard into the amd chassis. booted and and here we have it! It's definitely way snappier and the odd-2 software is quicker to respond.

nice find! awesome work.. Not bad for only $20! I just replaced the battery on my spare laptop for $20.. Was laughing so hard that Toshiba said it was "non user-serviceable".. I didn't even have to take the case apart to replace the battery, only two small phillips screws and it slid out! That's non user-serviceable?! lol.. anyway.. My point is $20 to fix it! Gotta love cheap fixes!

 

[NismoNVT]

Any experience in light Linux distros? They tend to be worthwhile for a older specs, plus you get updates.

 

[researcher]

Any experience in light Linux distros? They tend to be worthwhile for a older specs, plus you get updates.

You mean something lighter footprint like XFCE? But the biggest problem for @1 SX might be that the diagnostic software only works in windows.. I do agree a lighter OS would be nice!

 

[1 SX]

Now that I have the intel board in this Toshiba... It has a removable AND upgradeable CPU!

Some searches later I found other optional CPU's for the Toshiba C55 series with most recent bios, and a 35W tdp i5 3340M is a direct swap and ups the base clock from 2.4 GHz to 2.7 Ghz and adds turbo boost 2.0 with up to 3.4 GHz. Heat and power draw is not an issue as even with the current i3 3310M 35W tdp cpu, running cinebench for some time the fan never even kicked on, and it got just slightly warm.

So $8 later I ordered a i5 3340M CPU off the bay and it will be here in a couple days

 

[350Rocket]

Now that I have the intel board in this Toshiba... It has a removable AND upgradeable CPU!

Some searches later I found other optional CPU's for the Toshiba C55 series with most recent bios, and a 35W tdp i5 3340M is a direct swap and ups the base clock from 2.4 GHz to 2.7 Ghz and adds turbo boost 2.0 with up to 3.4 GHz. Heat and power draw is not an issue as even with the current i3 3310M 35W tdp cpu, running cinebench for some time the fan never even kicked on, and it got just slightly warm.

So $8 later I ordered a i5 3340M CPU off the bay and it will be here in a couple days

I still use a 2012 Lenovo ThinkPad t530 with a 512gb ssd, 8 GB ram, top of the line i7 from that era (it was a drafting laptop where I work) and dedicated graphics. A really decent 15.6" 1080p screen. Best laptop that I never paid for.
Also a 2009 Lenovo I bought before going back to college for surveying. It's a much more budget laptop with a Pentium but I did upgrade it to an SSD and install linux on it so it's not terrible.

 

[sk_pete]

35W tdp i5 3340M

old work laptop had this, it made less heat than brand new intel 15w cpus

 

[1 SX]

Here is it!
New i5 cpu installed with arctic silver 5 paste and after enabling speed step in bios it cranks out over 3.3 Ghz turbo or a continuous 3.1 GHz running Cinebench. Heat is not an issue as after some testing fan never kicked on above low.
Also new intel inside i5 sticker so that adds a few points of a GHZ right there.

Benchmark wise added a solid 400 points on Cinebench score from the i3..

Plus to actually use it its a VERY pleasurable experience and the speed of it tricks you into thinking it a much much newer machine.. Windows 11 boots up in a near seconds Firefox opens immediately and can even play a 1440 YouTube videos.

But the main reason for this laptop is for the OBD-2 software. On the AMD CPU it would take about 14 seconds to open. With the i3 it took about 5 to 6 and now with the i5, it is open and ready in under 3 seconds.

I am done upgrading this laptop as there is not much more I can do with it, but use it haha.

It was fun and cheap with substantial improvements.. I know I could just buy a newer basic W-11 laptop that would smoke this 9 year old i5, but I enjoy keeping electronics alive and working plus out of the landfill..

 

[Dave9]

Heh, my old beater laptop is an Acer Pentium M circa 2006. Big, heavy, 17" screened boat anchor. Came with WinXP, years later threw a tiny Win7 SP1 on it, doubled the memory, and put an SSD in... had to shuck the casing for the SSD to make it small enough to use with an IDE-to-SATA adapter. Even stuck at ATA133 speed, it's still quite snappy to use with the minimal latency and smaller footprint of the tiny Win7.

I'd replace it but really no reason to, just to look at a diagram or PDF in the garage or workshop, look at specs or take notes, or connect to an OBD2 dongle.

Amazingly the original battery still works to some extent, though could be because most of the time it's running off the AC/DC adapter. I keep thinking of replacing it, at least in my workshop, with a newer laptop that the screen broke on, so I took the screen half off, just use the bottom half with a separate monitor but as soon as I do that, I'd end up with a shard of something I'm grinding, flying right into a monitor that's worth more than the old laptop. I could put a polycarbonate sheet in front of it, but all that is more work and expense than to just keep using the old Acer till it dies.

 

[k1xv]

I just buy another refurbished one for around $400 to $500 and retire the old one. Presently using an HP with an i7 processor, 32 GB of ram, and a 512 GB solid state drive. Came with Windows 10 business right out of the box.

 

[1 SX]

I lied. took it back apart to upgrade the single antenna 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi card to a dual band / dual antenna 2.4/5 GHz card. I have alot of wifi cards on hand from other upgrades and this Atheros fit the bill perfectly. I did not know I had a 5 ghz card that would work in the Toshiba or I would have just done it all at once lol.

 

[350Rocket]

Here is it!
New i5 cpu installed with arctic silver 5 paste and after enabling speed step in bios it cranks out over 3.3 Ghz turbo or a continuous 3.1 GHz running Cinebench. Heat is not an issue as after some testing fan never kicked on above low.
Also new intel inside i5 sticker so that adds a few points of a GHZ right there.
View attachment 136391View attachment 136393View attachment 136392
View attachment 136390

Benchmark wise added a solid 400 points on Cinebench score from the i3..
View attachment 136400

Plus to actually use it its a VERY pleasurable experience and the speed of it tricks you into thinking it a much much newer machine.. Windows 11 boots up in a near seconds Firefox opens immediately and can even play a 1440 YouTube videos.

But the main reason for this laptop is for the OBD-2 software. On the AMD CPU it would take about 14 seconds to open. With the i3 it took about 5 to 6 and now with the i5, it is open and ready in under 3 seconds.

I am done upgrading this laptop as there is not much more I can do with it, but use it haha.

It was fun and cheap with substantial improvements.. I know I could just buy a newer basic W-11 laptop that would smoke this 9 year old i5, but I enjoy keeping electronics alive and working plus out of the landfill..

My 2012 ThinkPad has the i7 3520m @2.9ghz. I don't believe it was possible to overclock this one, or I just never did because I was worried about longevity. I know I was in the bios at least once though. It's still really fast for the stuff I use it for (spreadsheets and watching YouTube).

 

[ceecbtg]

Very intelligent moves, you can have very cheap and powerfull laptop for things like OBD or everything.
Anyway from my POV, if not absolutly required, I'd not use Win10, it's a waste of space and specially resources, 7 SP1/SP2 and 8.1 are lighweight and faster (8.1 boots like lighting and resources print is similar as 7, very good for car works).

 

[researcher]

Here is it!
New i5 cpu installed with arctic silver 5 paste and after enabling speed step in bios it cranks out over 3.3 Ghz turbo or a continuous 3.1 GHz running Cinebench. Heat is not an issue as after some testing fan never kicked on above low.
Also new intel inside i5 sticker so that adds a few points of a GHZ right there.
View attachment 136391View attachment 136393View attachment 136392
View attachment 136390

Benchmark wise added a solid 400 points on Cinebench score from the i3..
View attachment 136400

Plus to actually use it its a VERY pleasurable experience and the speed of it tricks you into thinking it a much much newer machine.. Windows 11 boots up in a near seconds Firefox opens immediately and can even play a 1440 YouTube videos.

But the main reason for this laptop is for the OBD-2 software. On the AMD CPU it would take about 14 seconds to open. With the i3 it took about 5 to 6 and now with the i5, it is open and ready in under 3 seconds.

I am done upgrading this laptop as there is not much more I can do with it, but use it haha.

It was fun and cheap with substantial improvements.. I know I could just buy a newer basic W-11 laptop that would smoke this 9 year old i5, but I enjoy keeping electronics alive and working plus out of the landfill..

I agree, what's the point of always buying "new".. no need to throw out the older tech if it's able to be a tool like this for hooking up to OBD2! very cool.. glad to hear you upgraded it that far, of course with a bios update.. awesome work!