MBP 1.83 Core Duo

Question

I currently have the MBP Core Duo 1.83.
Question I have... Does anyone know if I am stuck with this processor or can I upgrade if purchase the Core 2 Duo Chip?
Also is getting an external HD the best way to upgrade my capacity and speed?

Answer 1

As everyone else has said, and as you can see in the following pic, the CPU is not like ones found in PC desktops. Laptops, because of their size and design, have very limited upgrade capabilities.
http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/85/images_large/44.jpg
If it makes you feel any better, the difference between a 1.83 GHZ and a 2.0 GHZ is nigh unnoticeable. More RAM and a 7200rpm drive will give you noticeable speed increases. Conversely, a handful of MHZ won't do much at all. Don't get caught up in the 2001 clock speed hype. A computer is much more than it's clock speed.
Look at it this way. You have 3 dams, each lets through some water. The first lets through 100 litres of water a minute, the 2nd, 200 litres, the 3rd, 300 litres. If you are sitting at the first dam, and want more water, would it help you to increase the 2nd dam's size to 500 litres? Of course not. If you were sitting at the 2nd dam, you would see more water if you increased the size of the first dam. If you were at the 3rd, then increasing the size of one of the first two, or both, would help get more water to you.
Basically it's the same thing with a CPU (obviously more complex). But, the analogy still holds. Most things slow down even before they hit the CPU, so it wouldn't matter making them any faster. There are components (such as hard drives) that are extremely far behind any other component.
Remember, your PC is only as fast as its slowest component. Be it that some things you do, do sometimes circumvent that component, irregardless, it will still ultimately affect day to day use.
Be aware that external hard drives are either USB 2.0 or firewire (400 or 800; the latter only supported in the 17" MBP or the new C2D 15" MBP).
The data transfer rate of USB 2.0 is 60 MB/s. Firewire400 is 50 MB/s, while Firewire800 is 100 MB/s. SATA is 300 MB/s. As you can see, an internal hard drive is a much better choice as most hard drives advertise a transfer rate of around 150 MB/s.
Here is a rundown on the latest Toshiba 200 GB, 4200rpm drive:
http://www.techgage.com/article/toshiba200gb_4200rpm_25_harddrive