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I have an older Toshiba Satellite L750. I had it for two years. I received my Dell Inspiron a month ago. My L750 has 4GB of RAM and a 500GB hard drive. Can I plug in the hard drive to the computer and put the RAM in the motherboard?
You can't add all the RAM to what's in the Dell, laptops generally only have 2 memory sockets, the Dell at the most will have 1 slot empty, and depending on the type of RAM in both it may not be compatible.
Unless the Dell has a slot for a second hard drive (most laptops don't) you can't install the hard drive, nor can you replace the Dell's drive with the Toshiba's without formatting and reloading the Dell OS. You can attach it via a USB drive enclosure.
If you're willing to sacrifice your DVD drive, you can buy an adapter to install a second hard drive where the DVD drive normally goes. Here's an example:
You void all warranties if you open a laptop. RAM will be RAM and a hard drive will be a hard drive. The hardware should be compatible as long as it fits. The only difference you might see is if the speed of the RAM is too fast for the motherboard.. then it will simply not be able to run at its max speed.
You can also purchase an external "enclosure" for the old hard drive, which will allow you to attach it to the new computer via. a USB port. This would give you extra storage for backups, or large files (e.g. video).
As for memory, looks like the Toshiba and the Dell both use DDR3 PC3 laptop memory. The memory in your old laptop might be slower than the memory in your new laptop, but I don't think you would notice much of a difference. I am guessing that the Dell has two memory slots. It looks like the many of the current configurations that are available on Dell's website ship with memory chips in both slots. If one of the memory chips from the old laptop is larger than either one of the current chips (or if one of the slots in the new laptop is vacant,) you might be able to use a memory module from the old laptop to increase the memory in your new laptop.
You can also purchase an external "enclosure" for the old hard drive, which will allow you to attach it to the new computer via. a USB port. This would give you extra storage for backups, or large files (e.g. video).
That's the way I would go with the old hard drive. Put it in an enclosure and use it as a backup drive or place to store media.
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As for memory, looks like the Toshiba and the Dell both use DDR3 PC3 laptop memory. The memory in your old laptop might be slower than the memory in your new laptop, but I don't think you would notice much of a difference. I am guessing that the Dell has two memory slots. It looks like the many of the current configurations that are available on Dell's website ship with memory chips in both slots. If one of the memory chips from the old laptop is larger than either one of the current chips (or if one of the slots in the new laptop is vacant,) you might be able to use a memory module from the old laptop to increase the memory in your new laptop.
You have to be careful because a lot of the time, the memory module on a lot of laptops is soldered into the board. You have one "chip" of hardwired RAM and then an expansion slot that is accessible under a cover. I would also be concerned about mixing the RAM do to not knowing things like the latency, timing, etc. Differences there can play havoc on the system, especially if the user isn't savvy enough to find BIOS settings that make both chips happy. For that reason, I would highly recommend just buying new RAM for the new laptop from a site like Crucial's.
Sell the old laptop for $90 and use the money to buy a new external drive.
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