I'm looking to upgrade my notebook

[Distriv]

I have an HP Pavillion dv2000 notebook and I'm tired of using the integrated graphics card that came with it. The only problem is that I've only upgraded PC's before; I've never worked on a notebook. First off, I can't find online if I can even upgrade the graphics card on this model. If anyone knows or can find out for me that would be great. Second; if I can upgrade, does anyone have suggestions for a good card. Ideally, I would love to be able to run Crysis when it comes out (the graphics card is the only upgrade I need, other than Vista of course) but if that's too expensive I would settle for being able to run F.E.A.R. well.

[Kitsuta]

I have an HP Pavillion dv2000 notebook and I'm tired of using the integrated graphics card that came with it. The only problem is that I've only upgraded PC's before; I've never worked on a notebook. First off, I can't find online if I can even upgrade the graphics card on this model. If anyone knows or can find out for me that would be great. Second; if I can upgrade, does anyone have suggestions for a good card. Ideally, I would love to be able to run Crysis when it comes out (the graphics card is the only upgrade I need, other than Vista of course) but if that's too expensive I would settle for being able to run F.E.A.R. well.

Because of the proprietary nature of notebooks, upgrading them is a royal pain in the ass. Pretty much the only thing that is commonly upgraded in a notebook is the memory and the harddrive, and even those are difficult to perform if they are, say, put underneath the keyboard. The placement for all components is specific to each individual model.

And if your graphics card is integrated into the mobo, you're pretty much screwed. There IS no extra room in a notebook, so you're looking at actually upgrading your motherboard.

However... PCMCIA video cards do exist, and while I don't have much experience with them, it may be just what you're looking for. Make sure you can take at least Type 2 PCMCIA cards in your laptop. It looks like PCMCIA video cards are chiefly used to just expand your display to two screens, so make sure you can actually get a card that is better than your integrated video.

Oh yeah, and this belongs in the Help forum.

[Pyrion]

You likely cannot, as IIRC HP Pavilion laptops tend to only run the ATI Mobility Xpress200 IGP.

Kitsuta is correct. The most you'll be able to upgrade is the RAM and hard drive, cuz that's all that's really designed to be upgradeable in a laptop.