Buy Harddrive with laptop, or buy after?

[Sauro]

Since Dell decides to knock off prices a lot, I figure this will be the laptop I'll be buying soon. The only thing is, it's about 200 bucks over my price range. So, my basic question is, once I buy the Dell, can I replace the harddrive in it? If so, does it have to be a pre-built one specificaly for that Dell model, or can I simply removed the drive from the slot thing it's connected to, and then replace it? Any help would be greatly appreciated. - Thanks, Anthony.

 

[DanTMWTMP]

unlikely that Dell will sell you a computer without the HD. But you can always get the smaller drive and upgrade your self. It is very easy to do. Basoncomputers.com have a wide selection of notebook HDD. I got a Hitachi 60G 5400RPM drive last month for about $150. It is the same drive that Dell charges $199 to upgrade to. The only thing is hat you will have to reload all your software.

I actually was able to order a Thinkpad X31 from IBM Education store WITHOUT OS, HDD, RAM, or Wi-Fi and get everything myself and saved $500 in the process. I got all the parts from 3rd party vender at substantial savings over what IBM wants to charge.

 

[jimmypop]

you may well be able to get a 40gb travelstar 5400rpm 8mb cache in the FS/FT forum for about $90.

if it's an inspiron 600m (judging by the current deals), the HD is ridiculously easy to upgrade. unscrew one screw, slide the old one out, unscrew the HD from the bracket, remove/replace, slide it back in. install software, done!

the Dell system restore disks provided should do a good job on the software side. you might as well do this upgrade 1st thing when you get the laptop, otherwise you'll have to deal with transferring all your settings and etc.