Hobby: Compaq Armada 1750 notebook repair and upgrading (2008).
CPU: Pentium II Mobile MMX, 333MHz, FSB 66MHz, L2 cache 256KB ; BIOS: 686EM 11-30-99
Chipset: Intel 440BX/ZX ; GFX: ATi Rage LT Pro (AGP 2X) with 4MB ram ; Audio: ES1869
Memory: On-board 64MB (PC100), added Low Density 256MB (PC100): Total now 320MB
LCD: 14.1" 1024 x 768 pixels ; HDD: Org. 6,4 GB IDE (DMA) ; now 60GB IDE (Ultra-DMA)
CDROM: XM-1902B (fw: 1218) ; Modem: Compaq 56v (K56 Flex) World modem
Disk: 3.5" HD diskdrive ; O.S.: now Windows 2000 Pro NL SP4
Got this old rugged notebook for free and I liked to get it working again and getting it better than before.
Disassembled the notebook fully (100%), cleaned all parts and all connectors with a bit silicone spray and a hard
brush. Assembled it again and prepared the harddisk for Windows 2000 SP4 installation. There were often problems with the
LCD display: White, black or distorted contents. After cleaning all the connectors it was OK again. They used 2 worse
quality connectors by using 2 silver plated ones instead of gold (corrosion) on the bottom of the printedcircuit board for
the 4 hotkeys, standby and on/off key. See pictures below. The left (black) connector is for the LCD backlight and the
right one (white) is for the displaydata.
Memory.
There is 64MB onboard memory and one free memorysocket in this notebook. It needs a Low Density type of memory, which is
expensive and not that easy to find anymore. The information at Compaq (HP) site tells that we can add max. 128MB, but in
a few forums users used the Low Density 256MB (PC100) type and they reported it working well. I bought one at Ebay from a
seller in the USA. For a fair price though, seen the low $ value. It works splendid and speeds up the notebook nicely.
Now I have 320MB memory (64MB + 256MB) in it.
Harddisk.
The original 6.4GB harddisk is too small and too slow... I replaced it with a 60GB one from my Medion Laptop (MD41300),
which got a new and bigger one. The BIOS displays 8GB (could just be display error), but the OS has no trouble and it
works great. With use of the Acronis Disk Suite the partioning went quickly and well. The 60GB harddisk is much faster
than the original 6.4GB harddisk, caused by the bigger cache and also Ultra-DMA instead of DMA!
Network and Internet.
Some speeds I got with several LANCARDS with Windows 2000, 320MB memory and Pentium II @333MHz. I measured it downloading
a quite big file from my Synology DS-106j server locally, no encryption used.
USBLAN adaptor ZT6688: 100Mbit : max. 450KB/s
USBLAN adaptor HU001r: 100Mbit : max. 650KB/s
PCMCIA Etherlink III: 16bit type / 10Mbit : max. 850KB/sec
PCMCIA TP-Link WN510G WiFi: 32bit type / 54Mbit : max. 1600KB/sec
PCMCIA D-Link DFE-680txd: 32bit type / 100Mbit : max. 2600KB/sec
Processor.
This notebook makes use of a MMC-2 type cpu- and gpu-board: It is possible to exchange the MMC-2 board with another one
with a Pentium III Mobile CPU instead of a Pentium II Mobile CPU. The advantages of this upgrade are: Higher clockspeed
and the FSB will go up from 66MHz to 100MHz. The used memory should be PC100 compatible! The last advantage is that the
Pentium III CPU is adding SSE instructions, which is much used and it will speed up a lot too. This notebook mainboard
does not support Intel Speedstep. That means that when upgrading to a Pentium III cpu, the notebook will use the lower
clockspeed (battery mode) of the cpu (e.g. a PIII 800MHz type will work at 650MHz). This is not really a point, because it
will also lower the CPU temperature! Disadvantage: A tool is needed to enable the L2 cache. It seems nice to try this
upgrade experiment also. I need to search for a cheap Pentium III MMC-2 board. Thanks to:
Compaq Armada 1750 repair
Now I have still to find a working tool to program these 4 dedicated programmable hotkeys...
A few pictures: Click on an image for a bigger size.
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