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Old Laptop Project

post #1 of 7
2/4/08 at 5:27am
Thread Starter 
Hi

I have had a really old laptop sitting in my cupboard for ages, and this weekend I decided I would try to resurrect it to a usable state. The laptop is a Toshiba Satellite Pro 430CDS. It has 32MB RAM and a 1.3GB HDD. So yeah, its crap. It has no USB slots but it does have a CD-ROM.

After alot of messing about, I have managed to install a barebones copy of Windows XP which was designed to run on systems with a minimum of 17MB RAM. I have to say it is running surprisingly well!

Anyway, my next hurdle is trying to get the internet running on this old beast. I don't need wireless, since I don't have a router, so I just need an Ethernet port.

The detailed specs for the laptop are here:

What I want to know is if it is actually possible to get an Ethernet connection to this laptop.

Any ideas or suggestions appreciated

EDIT:

I'm not sure if it has a PCMCIA slot, I know it has two slots on the side, but I dunno if they're PCMCIA. Could somebody who knows what they're doing take a look at the detailed specs.pdf and see if it does.

Windows XP is running nicely, and I've installed Firefox and that can load some HTML files with decent speed, so now I just need an ethernet connection :P

Thanks
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post #2 of 7
2/4/08 at 8:56am
Yes it has two PCMCIA slots and there are cards out there, its just a matter of finding a cheaper one. Suggest EBay.
This is an example when googling "Toshiba Satellite Pro 430CDS ethernet card"
http://3klix.com/Scripts/prodList.asp?idCategory=2960
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post #3 of 7
2/4/08 at 1:42pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks for the reply, would the CPU/RAM be able to handle an ethernet card? On the specs it is said to come with 16MB RAM standard, but mine has been upgraded to 32MB.

Also, do I need to get a 16bit card?

Thanks
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post #4 of 7
2/4/08 at 4:39pm
I would imagine it would handle the max memory allocated to that model laptop.
As for the type of card, just go to that site and see what type it was either 16 bit or whatever. If the info not on that site try another or see if the 430CDT is still listed in past models on the Toshiba site
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post #5 of 7
2/4/08 at 5:50pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks, emailed the guy from Venturas and he helped me through the process of finding and purchasing this card:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/XIRCOM-REM56G-...QQcmdZViewItem

Should work fine.

Quick question - can anybody reccommend an Internet Browser besides Firefox with low memory usage? Also a word editor?

Thanks
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post #6 of 7
2/4/08 at 8:15pm
This may be of interest. I just googled "minimum memory usage browsers" and got this:
http://weblogs.mozillazine.org/ben/archives/009749.html
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post #7 of 7
2/12/08 at 5:52pm
I found the exact same model dumped outside the other day (the battery actually holds power!!) and have been looking for a way to get it online ,
Looks like the Realport is the way to go but are there other cards that'll work?

Im thinking it would make a great kitchen laptop because it doesnt matter to me if it gets hurt unlike my other hardware.




Maxed out @ 48mb WOW!!
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