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Do most notebooks have (easily) user replaceable hard drives?

W

Wolfpup

Member
I'm needing a notebook pretty soon, and wondering about this.

Dell's notebooks all have pretty easily replaceable hard drives, as far as I know.

The Macbook does, but the Macbook Pro doesn't (technically you can get at it, but after watching the videos of how to do it, it's not something I'd want to risk).

Anyone know about Sony or Toshiba's systems?

By the way, I probably want one I can game on, which is leaning me towards Dell, since it's one of the few that lets you get a Geforce 7900GS or 7950GTX. I've really been waiting for the 8x00 series, but that's taking forever, and who knows if the 8600 will be as powerful as the 7900 line.

On the other hand, I'm assuming Sony and Toshiba have better build quality (and possibly better audio? I've heard really lousy audio on some Dell laptops).
 
Having tried to replace the hard drives in a sony laptop, that one at least (which was a 17" model) was a PITA to swap the drive on. Most dells that I have worked on are easy to switch, as are most alienwares (at least all the ones that I have tinkered with)
 
My old Dell Inspiron 9200 was pretty easy. The HD is installed on a tray that slides into the side and screws in place. I bought an extra tray off ebay for $15 and installed a bigger HD on it. Then I left the screws off (it clicks into place even without them) and was able to swap HD's. I had my 80GB one for work stuff and swapped in my original 40GB when I got home so I could play games.
I'll be replacing the HD in my MacBook Pro soon, but I don't think it'll be that bad.
 
Dells are easy. I have an I6000 and I can pop it out just by removing 2 screws. Then remove it from its tray by removing a few more. 3 minute swapout.
 
Thanks for the feedback everyone! I think I'm getting pushed further towards Dell...

although I think Toshiba has sometimes put good GPUs in their notebooks, so since they have easy to access drives, I may look at them too (and they're supposed to have better reliability).
 
Dells are hit and miss - but that's why you get a 1-2 year warranty minimum. If they work well for a year chances are you won't have any issues... but if you need several in-warranty repairs... I bought my I6000D used on the FS/FT forums and even with gaming/overclocking/benchmarking/other stress-testing over extended periods of time it doesn't choke. Of course, that may be because I modded the cooling system 😉
 
Thanks, yeah if I go with Dell I'm planning on a 3 year warranty. I don't for desktops (when I buy pre-built at all) since you can just replace everything yourself, but I figure worst case if the thing dies in three years I'll just end up with a new system.

Dell's pricing is so annoying now though. They've jacked it up across the board, and there's like 30 different ways to buy the same computer, all for different prices. I miss the pre-"xps" days of 20-30% off coupons with no restrictions.
 
I've had 5 laptops since 1995 - and all had user replaceable harddrives. Currently have H-P, and it is very easy. Compaq is the same. Gateway also easy.

The HDDs are usually mounted in a proprietary tray or caddy, sometimes with a connector adapter - and extra models of those items are not easy to find. I managed to get one for my current H-P (dv1000) so I have a spare HDD I can drop in as fast as I can loosen two captive screws.
 
Most of the ones I've seen and all the ones I've owned have easy to access hard drives, except for Apple's; I've never really looked at Sony's.
 
I'm SO glad the Macbook has an easy to access hard drive (finally!) I hope the refreshed Macbook Pro uses a similar design. Technically you can get at it, but you have to literally take the entire thing apart, and you're left with just flimsy looking metal pieces. The cable for the infrared port on the front even has to be attached to the hard drive. There's no way I'd personally want to risk that on a $2000 piece of hardware!
 
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