Ease of Upgrading Disk/RAM Yourself?

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jrnewquist · #1 Post by **jrnewquist** » Sun Mar 13, 2005 1:20 am

Hey,

It looks like ordering a T42 with small HD and RAM (like, 40GB and 256MB) is the best value right now -- and then upgrade these components yourself later.

Here's the question -- is it fairly easy to do so? Is there a site on the web somewhere with a HOWTO or pictures? Or is it trivial? Just trying to get a handle on the ease/difficulty so I can determine if the extra money up-front for disk and RAM will save me headaches down the road.

Thanks,
Jason

rhema83 · #2 Post by **rhema83** » Sun Mar 13, 2005 1:24 am

Search for the Hardware Maintenance Manual (sorry I don't have the link right now) on the IBM website. They have good instruction on how to upgrade your memory and disk.

To sum it up in a sentence: it was a piece of cake for me!

By the way you sound like you're buying the 2378-FVU!

#3 Post by **thePCxp** » Sun Mar 13, 2005 1:39 am

Upgrading the RAM and the HD is easy. Removing and installing parts on ThinkPad's is easy.
On the IBM website, you can go to Support and Downloads, click on Personal Computing which is under Search by Product, and you can type your ThinkPad's model number(which can be also found under your ThinkPad) or you can also search by model, and then click on Product Information. There are also some "how to's" and some video clips that show you how to remove and install a part. You can also get the Harware Maintenance Manual.

jrnewquist · #4 Post by **jrnewquist** » Sun Mar 13, 2005 2:25 am

rhema83 wrote:By the way you sound like you're buying the 2378-FVU!

Exactly. I think I'm gunna install Linux on it for starters.

-Jason

jrnewquist · #5 Post by **jrnewquist** » Sun Mar 13, 2005 2:26 am

thePCxp wrote:Upgrading the RAM and the HD is easy. Removing and installing parts on ThinkPad's is easy.
On the IBM website, you can go to Support and Downloads, click on Personal Computing which is under Search by Product, and you can type your ThinkPad's model number(which can be also found under your ThinkPad) or you can also search by model, and then click on Product Information. There are also some "how to's" and some video clips that show you how to remove and install a part. You can also get the Harware Maintenance Manual.

Thanks for HMM tip, and for the warm fuzzy about ease of upgrading!

-Jason

dfumento · #6 Post by **dfumento** » Sun Mar 13, 2005 3:05 am

Actually, the T43 266846U might be the better choice. Check the various discounts in my FAQ and call IBM.

See this thread for more details....
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=9086

jrnewquist · #7 Post by **jrnewquist** » Sun Mar 13, 2005 3:14 am

Followup question:

Since I'm getting a totally new HD and just want to stick Linux on it (not dual boot at all) - do I need to play around with the BIOS at all when I do this? I read that there are settings about hidden partitions (for example). I trust that if you stick a drive in without such partitions, it'll play nice instead of, like, hiding my /swap or something?

Is there any reason (besides initial testing) to even bother messing with the stock disk before yanking it out and installing the new disk, and whatever distro I'm going to install on it?[1]

Thanks,
Jason

[1] I'm thinking Ubuntu, since I hear it plays well, right out of the box.

Ease of Upgrading Disk/RAM Yourself?

Ease of Upgrading Disk/RAM Yourself?

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