Recently I have picked up quite cheaply some P4/Pentium M laptops that have dedicated period discreet graphics. Normally I dont even look at laptops for gaming. but on paper these are perfect for 98 (if I can track down all the drivers) and early XP period, being made around 2004, they were sourced from a charity, or via computer recyclers as spares. and sold as not working, i have got 4 out of the 5 dells I picked up going. and the other gave up its innards as spares for a future date if the need arises. Hell even the batteries are taking a charge, how long they will hold it, is another matter.

My dillema is, they are in various conditions, some look almost like new, others not so much. unfortunately its the more powerful models (relatively speaking) that are in the worst cosmetic nick. one machine has a 1.6GHz Pentium M, and an ATI Mobility 9600 Pro 128mb GPU, The other tatty one has a Nvidia FX Go 5650 128mb GPU with a 1.7GHz Pentium M, the other pair Have a 1.6GHz and 1.4GHz Pentium M and a Nvidia FX Go 5200 64mb GPU. Having stripped one completly down, and having to swap out a screen as the backlight seemed to have been toast to make a functioning machine. Im wondering if its possible to swap out the GPU's, and even the CPU to make nice looking cosmetically, and the best specs. As I will be renewing thermal paste, and cleaning out all the fans and coolers anyways.But rather than recasing the whole machine. and associated risk of damage. As the GPU and CPU are relatively accessable once the keyboard is removed. As is the LCD cable.

My plan was to make the ATI 9600 and Nvidia FX 5650 machine have there 1.6GHz and 1.7GHz CPU, 2gb DDR 333, with 128gb M.2 Sata SSD in a IDE adapter case, with a nice new keyboard, hopefully split into 2 partitions 1 with XP SP3, and the other 98SE (if I can find all the drivers.. I dont like half arsed stuff not working) with suitable tweaks to allow for higher amounts of ram in 98 and trim for the SSD. one question i have is, these mobile GPU's as ive not a huge ammount of experience with them. can they use general ATI/Nvidia drivers suitable for the desktop variants. or only the drivers available on the manufacturers site? as they both seem to only have drivers dated 2003. I would have thought something more recent in the XP era would have been released and workable.

The sony is a slightly different beast, its a full on desktop replacement, P4 2.66GHz CPU, 1gb (soon to be 2) DDR 333, and a Nvidia FX Go5600 but with only 64mb, this ive already fitted with a 128gb M.2 Sata SSD in an Adapter, installed XP pro SP3, and a Ralink RT2561T Wifi card, but as it has the mini PCI slot, but no antenna, I am going to have to add some kind of WiFi antenna. when I aquired it it had a belkin PCMCIA card hanging out the side, but i would prefer a more elegant internal solution, and frees up the card slot. the main difference visually from the Dells is this has a 4:3 1400x1050, the Dells are 16:10 and vary from 1280x800, 1600x1200 and the max is 1920x1200.

Has anyone else tinkered with these machines in the sense of retro gaming? or similar, like the Dell 8500, 9100, 9300 or the Lattitude D series. As I know they share a lot in common such as the docks, external drive bays and inner components. I have both the Floppy Drive and DVD/CD burner for the Dells. Shame no floppy for the sony, and unsure which model might work. Theres limited info on this model out there.