VGC-V2M Upgrade

[Exinferis]

Ah, it seems like only yesterday I was going "Oooh" and "Ahhh" over my brand new V2M! [:">] But now the time has come to start thinking of getting a little more out of the ol' boy. So, I was thinking of upgrading the processor to a Core 2 Duo. Is it possible? Has anyone done it? Also I wanted to upgrade the ram, as it's still at the factory 512. Anyone know how much more I can bung in and where it goes? More to the point, how the heck do I get into the machine? I sent it back to John Lewis, who sent it to "a Sony approved repair company", about this time last year and their engineers didn't even know how to get in!

Any advice as to what can be upgraded would be appreciated!

Cheers all,
Ex

[Exinferis]

No one? Have you all brought new machines? Lol!

[Blencogo]

Hi Exinferis and welcome.

A memory upgrade will be ok - you can put in up to 2048MB but only have two slots - so you will need to buy two X 1GB DDR PC3200 modules @ £37.59 each. However, it will work fine if you just want to do one now and one later.

Have a look at Crucial.com - most members here get their memory from them and can recommend them.

HERE ARE THE INSTRUCTIONS for replacing your memory.

As you have a Intel Pentium 4 processor 3.20GHz a processor upgrade is not viable.

[Exinferis]

Thanks Blencogo.

I was thinking of processor upgrade because if I have, say, Dreamweaver and Photoshop open at the same time it takes a small ice age to get anything done! Heaven forbid I want to listen to some music at the same time! It's just so frustating.

Do you think a memory upgrade will help fix this? Sorry for sounding like a proper n00b, but I've only ever upgraded my (very) old laptop with a tiny bit of memory, so really don't know what to expect!

Cheers,
Ex

[Exinferis]

Hi Exinferis and welcome.

A memory upgrade will be ok - you can put in up to 2048MB but only have two slots - so you will need to buy two X 1GB DDR PC3200 modules @ £37.59 each. However, it will work fine if you just want to do one now and one later.

Hi Again. I just wanted to check this. On the memory upgrade page (and all the memory selling webstores I've checked) it says maximum memory 1024. Can it really handle 2048? Currently I'm looking at just getting one stick as I can't afford two. But I want to be absolutly sure that it can hadle the on-board memory plus a 1024 upgrade.

Many thanks!
Ex

[Thalamus.]

On the memory upgrade page (and all the memory selling webstores I've checked) it says maximum memory 1024. Can it really handle 2048?

Hi Ex,

On the Crucial.com site it states the VGC-V2M can support a Maximum Memory of 2048MB, they also offer a 30-day money-back compatibility guarantee..

[Exinferis]

Hi Thalamus,

Thanks, just checking. I have actually found a 1gb stick on another site for about ten quid less, which is why I wanted to be extra sure.

I'll give it a go and hope for the best; fingers crossed!

Ex

[oldirty]

what's the name of the site?
did it work ?
cheers

[m0dcm]

Hi Guy's,
I've had my VGC-V2M for a little over 2 years now, and since day one I took the back off and upgraded to 2Gb! It works perfectly.
I do a lot of Software Development in Visual Basic.Net and C#.Net, and the extra memory comes in useful for my other software too.

I'm not impressed with Vista on this machine. I've tested it, and after 5days of just smacking my head across the wall, I soon put good old Windows XP back on, and the TV Tuner works again... Phew! although this was the only down side of the V2M, and I soon purchased a Digital Terrestrial TV Tuner for it.

My wife now wants this machine off me when I decide to upgrade to another machine, or she wants it in the bedroom as it covers all the entertainment needs, TV, DVD, and WIFI access to our music library.

So, 2Gb is the way to go. I doubt you can upgrade the CPU though, unless it's possible to take it up to 3.2GHz like the VGC-V2S?

All the best....

Dave

[Exinferis]

Thanks Dave, that's really good to know! I haven't had the cash to get the memory upgrade yet, but at least now I don't have to worry about it not working.

I've found Vista to be OK; but then I don't program. I do use Photoshop and, until I get the memory sorted, it's just not happening on Vista. Other programs I use are fine. No problem with the TV tuner, but then I don't use it. I only use the AV for Sky and that's alright. Only proplems with the TV side of things is that it won't work unless I change the resolution. Don't understand that one. And that, when it DOES work, it's all distorted down the right-hand side, which is very odd.

I'm debating on going back to XP, but I've spent ages getting Vista to run more or less properly and I'm reluctant to chuck all that work away!

Would be nice if Sony actually supported their products, but there you go...