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Dell Latitude D800 Fix-up Project

post #1 of 10
12/19/08 at 12:10am
Thread Starter 
So I decided for a winter project I want to fix up my old Dell Latitude D800, but this is my first time really changing much on a computer and I am pretty confused. I recently changed out the hard drive on my PS3 and figured I would use the "old" PS3 one (80 GB) in place of what is in my laptop now (60 GB) when I went to format it detected no hard drive at all, so I am guessing it needs to be a specific kind of card, but I have no idea how to find out what kind/what is my size limit (capacity not the actual drive)/and so forth. I also want to do the same by upping the RAM, and maybe eventually the video card, but I really don't know how or where to figure out what the "best" products I can get for the Latitude D800 are. I think what I am looking for is something along the lines of compatibility to maximize the system and make it new again. Sorry if this is a little broad, any pointers will help. Thanks!
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post #2 of 10
12/19/08 at 3:36am
Your PS3 doesn't use the same type of hard drive as your laptop. The D800 uses an ATA6 drive and according to sources online, the PS3 uses SATA hard drives. First you will need to purchase an ATA6 hard drive from a place like newegg.com. Second, you'll need to salvage the 44pin to edge connector interpolator Dell put on all their ATA-6 drives. This makes the drive easier to insert and lowers the risk of bending a pin.

Other upgrades you can make to the system are the CPU (Which are relatively inexpensive, you'll need a Pentium M Dothan CPU), memory up to 2GB I beleive (DDR 1 not DDR2).

You could also flash your D800's BIOS to that of a Precision M60 and use the Quadro Video card from that system to get a performance boost. It won't be much but it'll be better than what you probably have currently. If you have the ATI Radeon 9600 though, that's as good as you're going to get really.
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post #3 of 10
12/19/08 at 5:22am
Thread Starter 
Thanks all very helpful just two followups to be sure before I buy. The DDR1 can only be PC2100 right? If so it seems they only go up to 1 GB are there two slots on my laptop? Also for the ATA-6 it wont like reject a higher capacity (like over 100 GB) will it? Thanks again, really starting to get a good idea of what I can do.

Edit: http://ati.amd.com/products/radeon96...o/compare.html I was looking at that, which one of these will my laptop take? any? My current video card is a nvidia geforce fx5200 so I'm assuming this would be a sizable boost. (Also from what I can see on the Dell spec sheet I downloaded it says 4x AGP and these seem to be 8x AGP), but I dont even know what AGP is...
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post #4 of 10
12/19/08 at 6:56am
. AGP: accelerated graphic port, direct connect between the graphic bus and chipset/northridge. It is based from PCI-bus technology

. I am not sure if you can swap out the fx5200 with an ATI based gpu on this Dell D800

cheers ...
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post #5 of 10
12/19/08 at 2:53pm
You can trade the graphics card on your laptop, but it won't be from ANYTHING off the shelf. The video card's form factor is proprietary. The card you want will be the RAdeon 9600 Pro Turbo from an Inspiron 8600. Your resource for finding these cards will be eBay or parts-people.com.

As for a 48bit LBA Limitation on the D800, I'm not certain. To be safe I wouldn't put a larger hard drive than 120GB.

If you put PC2700 or PC3200 in your D800 the memory will underclock if the system's bus speed is slower.
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post #6 of 10
1/2/09 at 11:33pm
Thread Starter 
"you'll need to salvage the 44pin to edge connector interpolator Dell put on all their ATA-6 drives" how does one do this, I didnt think it would be hard or at least I would be abdle to find instructions but so far I dont know what to do....
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post #7 of 10
1/3/09 at 1:32am
Ohhhh, I'm getting a queasy feeling about this project. Please, please make sure you understand what you are doing before you change out a part. Don't "wing it".
Unless you aren't too fond of your lappy. If not, then have at it......best way to learn!
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post #8 of 10
1/3/09 at 5:46am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by CoachB View Post
Ohhhh, I'm getting a queasy feeling about this project. Please, please make sure you understand what you are doing before you change out a part. Don't "wing it".
Unless you aren't too fond of your lappy. If not, then have at it......best way to learn!
Not gonna wing it, do you know how to do this though, seems like it might take some soldering, which I dont think I have the powers for... Looks like this hard drive I bought for the occasion might be on ebay rather soon unless someone knows something.
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post #9 of 10
1/3/09 at 2:52pm
I've taken a lappy apart twice...once to clean out the dust and once to change a screen hinge. I replaced a faulty harddrive but that is pretty much plug and play stuff (except for re-loading all the software).
I also watched a Dell field repair person replace a motherboard in a D600 on my kitchen table. I'm a poor source for info at best BUT....
First suggestion is that you go to the Dell website a obtain the repair/upgrade instructions/manual for your machine. This will help you with the basic disassembly/reassembly. There are usually lots of screws and some parts need to be handled carefully such as ribbon cables and connectors. You frequently have to remove several pieces to get to your target piece.
Next, read everything you can about each mod you intend to make. Google is your friend. Be patient and take your time...don't force things.
Good Luck!
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post #10 of 10
1/4/09 at 3:01am
The interpolator just goes on the hard drive over the pins. Pulls right off. A pair of needle nose pliers makes the job a bit easier though. If the old hard drive is dead you won't even have to worry about bending pins on it to get it out. It just presses right onto the new drive and doesn't have any specific orientation.
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