looking for some basic advice on RAM and hard drive upgrade on laptop

[minofifa]

Hi

I want to manually install a new hard drive and also upgrade from 1GB to 2 GB of memory.
I know the basics of how each works and how to put them in, but i was hoping for some advice on what to buy before i purchase.

I have a dell inspiron 9300 w/ 60 GB hard drive and 1 GB of RAM.

As for the hard drive, can i pretty much buy any kind of the same physical size?

And the RAM; do i need to buy an identical stick to the one currently in my computer? if not, what should i consider? getting one with the same size, same speed etc.. Also, is RAM specific for laptops/desktops, or do all modules fit equivelently (DIMM's)

thank you very much.

 

[minofifa]

crap...
turns out i may know less than i thought. I'm not sure what kind of RAM i need to buy (pcXXXX), DDRx...)

also, i assumed most current hard drives were Serial ATA, but it seems like laptops are IDE? is that correct?

 

[AustinMatherne]

I?m pretty sure the Dell Inspiron 9300 supports SATA and IDE. Just make sure you get a 2.5? drive.
I also believe it uses DDR2 SO-DIMM memory, although I could be wrong on that.
Do some searching with Google and you should find your answers.
Another option would be contacting Dell customer surface. Also you could crack it open and take a look for yourself.