Firstly, this is for discussion purposes only.  Please understand,  I make no recommendations here.

The IBM Thinkpad A31 system specifications say the maximum RAM is 512MB.

But, I read online, that (undocumented) with the right chips it will support 2 gigabytes of RAM.  

So, I decided to take a minor risk and order 2 x 1GB chips at a discount price of $8 dollars.

Well, my friends, the RAM chips arrived from China today, so I am excited to try them out.

As soon as I read the title of this topic I thought that 2 GIG of RAM doesn't sound right 

I know that some Pentium 4 systems of the time could take 2 GIG but not many laptops did, that's sounds unusual, ok it was a long time ago now and my memory isn't what it used to be.

Will be interesting to see if 2 GIG does work in it, keep us posted 8pla.

Hey friends, it works!        A boot video in diagnostics mode which shows

the RAM counting up to 2GB will be posted here.   Fresh install of lightweight OS:

Lubuntu,  with a minimal LXDE desktop, is running fine.

Will two gigabytes of RAM really work in a Pentium 4 laptop?   



Honor and praise to IBM for making Thinkpads so well 

Some of the text on screen is unusual.

"US government users restricted rights"

Don't think I've ever seen that before.

Interesting little Thinkpad 

Boot time could be a tad better, has to be said.

Good to see it's working with 2 GIG though 

"Boot time could be a tad better, has to be said. "

Indeed, Data.  The boot time could be many tads better.   It is quite slow.  However, I can explain... I put the Thinkpad into diagnostics mode in the BIOS Setup Utility to do an extended POST which stands for Power On Self Test, if any readers are curious.

This way I could test out the new RAM chip upgrade.  And, I get a two and a half minute video for show off the 2GB RAM. Luckily, diagnostics mode is easily disabled in the BIOS Setup Utility. Yes, that is unusual, the text displayed on the screen.  I hope the US Govt doesn't come knocking at my door for breaking the restriction on RAM.  

This Thinkpad, is one of the last models manufactured by IBM, before they sold their PC division to China. I enjoy buying products from China.  The delivery may take longer, but the price, quality and customer service is excellent, in my experience.  It is funny how  Memory Companies advertise the Maximum Memory upgrade for an IBM Thinkpad A31 is 1024MB.

  Not to long ago I did some work on my cousins Dell Omniplex, rather old at the time.  I took out the hard drive and put in an older SSD with win 10 on it,  boot time is 17 sec.   Still needs a little more work but she's in Florida.
Carl2

Carl,

That's an interesting story.  I wonder, how does Windows 10 work on classic laptops?

Classic laptops are readily available to rebuild for fun, as a  low cost hobby.

Used laptop components are available online at deep discounts.  So, I think classic

laptop rebuilds are easier on a budget than used netbooks are.


Netbooks are more streamlined.  Yet, the large keys on the keyboard are more comfortable

for me on classic laptops.   And, I like having access to legacy ports: The parallel port,

the serial port, etc. can be useful for development purposes in prototypical projects, I think.

UPDATE:

This video hit #1 in the Google ranking algorithm

for search term, "IBM Thinkpad 2GB RAM"

Reference:

YouTube,

As mentioned above, Lubuntu...

Works well on classic laptops.

It has low hardware requirements.

Reference:  

http://lubuntu.net/

  Because of this thread I took a look at Newegg for older computers, there are very many core 2 duo's, going to newer more powerful Intel I 7's you have a very wide choice.  I limited my looking to the desktops seems like it would be easier to work on them because of space.
  I've only bought Desktops so I can't say much about the laptops, I'd guess win 10 has some min requirements but if these are met win 10 should install.
Carl2

Laptops are just crunched together more, and have more screws sometimes than desktops.
Wow, seems NewEgg has some refurbished laptops i3, i5 for about $100 bucks.  
No recommendation intended here.  Just surprising to see them priced that low.

Laptop CPU's and memory tend to be quite a bit slower than their desktop equivalents, I believe it is an attempt to make the batteries last longer. 

Hey Data,

Funny you should make an allusion to that.      I was just about to refer to how amusing this laptop was, with 512 megabytes of random access memory... Waiting for it to finish processing was slow, but steady.  Now, with four times what it was originally designed for (two  gigabytes of random access memory)... Things are even more interesting.