Inspiron 1564 Graphics Update and CPU

Video is not upgradeable at all - the video is part of the mainboard, not a separate card;  it cannot be replaced.

Yes, the CPU is socketed and replaceable for future upgrades.

Can a separate card be added through the PCI Express slot and set that as the default?

The 1564 can be upgraded through dell to have a better graphics card online, surely the Inspiron 1564 with Integrated graphics and the Inspiron 1564 with 512Mb ATI Graphics Card have the same motherboard?!

No, the express card socket cannot be used for video - and yes, the mainboards ARE different between the two systems.  The only way to upgrade Intel integrated to ATI is to replace the entire mainboard, and there is no upgrade from the ATI to anything else.

The sole remaining notebooks with removeable video cards are at the very high end - some of the Alienware gaming systems and the top of the line Precision mobile workstations.  Everything below that now uses integrated video - Dell was the last of the major vendors to ship midrange systems with separate video cards, but it has followed everyone else into using soldered-in chips.

No, the Express Card or PCI Express sockets cannot be used for internal video upgrades.

Yes, the two versions of the system DO use different mainboards - both with soldered-in video, and neither upgradeable.

Ok thank you for clearing that up for me! I appreciate it a lot!