A hi-tech guide to saving money

splash cash on luxury gadgets can often be seen as a luxury, especially during an economic crisis - but we can save money by improving our existing technology rather than investing in new equipment brand?

For example, there are only a limited amount you can do with a laptop. You can replace the hard drive and maybe upgrade the RAM. The first will give you more storage space and the afternoon can make the machine a little faster.

The rest is difficult - you can not really upgrade the graphics card as it is welded and reach the processor is very difficult.

An easier way to update your laptop without any problems is to add an external drive or even an external numeric keypad.

Experience of fear

Paul Trotter, director of PC Advisor, said: "Upgrading your laptop can be a pretty scary the first time you do.

"You can first of all void the warranty, but it is likely that if this is a slower, your system warranty has expired.

"If you are replacing something like RAM you need to make sure the Ram is correct otherwise your laptop will not recognize it.

"Fortunately, there are some websites that can do the trick for you - Crucial.com has a memory advisor, like Kingston.

"If you open the laptop can speed things up a bit looking at the software installed, eliminating programs that do not use via PC and cleaning tools.