is this old laptop scrap or fixable?

[ILoveMaxiBondi]

Its an 8 year old dell mini inspirion with windows 7. There's nothing actually wrong with it other than its very slow when browsing. Its the only laptop we have and while we don't use it much we would if it was more pleasant to use and not so slow. Dc are getting older and could probably do with easy access to a laptop fro school work and such. I've been thinking about buying a new one but if this one can be revived i wont bother with a new one. or is this one is done with, wheat do i need to do to get rid of it properly?

Desktops can (with a bit of knowhow) have parts swapped out to improve performance. Doesn't go so well with laptops, so I'd suggest replacement is easier and more effective than refresh.
As for disposal, local tip normally has a place for expired electricals.

Putting as much memory ( aka RAM ) in as possible is the quick way of speeding it up. If you can still read the service tag on the bottom of the laptop, try the Dell website www.dell.com/support , put the service tag in. You’ll get all the model specific documents , one of which will tell you what the max amount of memory your model can take.

Clearing out the browser cache might help and checking you’re not running out of disc space.

However if you’re only using it to browse, what about a tablet, say a Samsung 10 inch model?

thanks both. i would only be browsing and usually just use my phone but im thinking of dc and coursework. ds1 is 13 so this is only a couple of years away. as im using it ive discovered the charger isnt sitting properly in the power inlet and its not charging so i reckon its time for the scrap heap.

If you have a geek streak (or friend) then putting Linux on it is an option. Free and nowhere near as resource hungry (or data slurpy) as Microsoft stuff. Bearing in mind support for Win7 ends next year, and it's unlikely to run Windows 10 (which you'd need to buy).

Linux Mint is very windows-like. Especially if you're just surfing/media playing.

Buy I am a geek ...