Dell DIY upgrades: how to build a cheaper, more powerful laptop?

[play]

Hello everyone, hoping you're having a fun holiday season.

I'm starting to think about replacing my laptop this year. Happy with the last Dell, so thinking of staying with them.

Now I realize that unlike a desktop build, to save money, there are not many opportunities to buy the cheaper Dell option and upgrade by myself.
Does anyone have experience with saving money by upgrading a Dell laptop themselves?

The components that first come to mind are:
RAM
Replacing the HD with a SSD (cheaper than on Dell store?)

Are there other potential fruitful areas for building a slightly cheaper, more powerful Dell?

Wishing you all a relaxing day.

 

[Zap]

That's what I do. Their upgrades are always expensive. Just buy the base system you want, and do the RAM/SSD upgrade yourself for cheaper.

 

[slugg]

Dell deals seem to follow a pattern. Using a coupon, there's some large percentage off the price of the laptop if you spec it past a base price. Then, in addition to that, they offer a "free upgrade" on some part of the computer.

So this is what you do.

Wait until they offer a "free upgrade" for something difficult or expensive to do yourself. For example, a screen resolution upgrade, video card option, optical drive, CPU bump, or whatever. Once one of these deals come up, use the latest and greatest coupon and buy the machine. Once you get it, you can upgrade the cheap/easy stuff: memory and storage. Ignore the "free upgrade to 4 gb!" sales - they're worthless.

 

[play]

Hi Zap, hi Slugg,

Thank you for sharing your experience!
I'll focus on RAM and storage, and wait for the right coupon.

Wishing you's a beautiful day.

 

[SandEagle]

That's what I do. Their upgrades are always expensive. Just buy the base system you want, and do the RAM/SSD upgrade yourself for cheaper.

this. i bought a dell and upgraded the memory. get the lowest amount of ram and the smallest drive and swap them out later. just installed a Crucial M4 128GB SSD and it is the best upgrade i've done so far.

 

[bennyg]

a few years back I bought a factory second, busted NIC (used wifi) low spec vostro 1500. Real cheap due to slow CPU and small hdd. Bought a much faster CPU from eBay cheap, pulled a high quality screen from a similar model, it's been a beast since, and with a ssd upgrade and new 9 cell battery from eBay, is still going strong, quick, and long. Despite not having a days warranty in its life.

If you know what you're doing it's an option I recommend.

 

[Zap]

this. i bought a dell and upgraded the memory. get the lowest amount of ram and the smallest drive and swap them out later.

I would say get the system they are promoting. It isn't necessarily the one with the smallest HDD and RAM. For instance I got a killer deal on my Vostro v131. They have around five different "base" configurations, and it was #4, but because it was on promotion (and others weren't) it was priced like #2.