New Vostro Lineup (3350, 3450..)

Hello, i am waiting for my 3450 with i5 and ati card. Is there any guide about "replacing hdd with ssd" or "put ssd in caddy"?

 

There's a service manual on Dell web site, which will guide you through the disassembly and reassembly process. Unfortunately Dell made it harder to replace a HDD in the 3450 - it's not accessible via bottom cover as it is on other 3x50 models.

 

I would have bought a 3450 were it not for this. They did make it easy to remove the optical drive so a caddy solution is possible. If the main hard drive fails, you're up a creek because you essentially have to take apart the entire notebook to get to it.

From my experience disassembling 2007-era MacBook Pros for the purpose of upgrading/replacing the hard drive (which is not as intensive as taking apart the Vostro 3450), even if you're as careful as can be, the odds are good that it won't look exactly as it did when you took it out of the box. A panel might be slightly off, a screw might not go back in exactly right, you might have mis-connected a cable. It's a right pain.

 

Holy crap you're right it seems like a huge PITA to replace the hard drive on these new models (just checked Dell's manual). I just ordered a 3450 so maybe I should call and cancel or upgrade from factory to a nicer HDD.

 

can you link the manual, please?

thanks in advance

 

I've read a few comments stating that the Vostro screen looks course/grainy, how is it for viewing photo's. do they look sharp/crisp?


Thanks.

 

Hallo,
I am ready to buy my first Dell, a Vostro 3550 (i5-2410, Intel integrated graphics), but I have two main concerns:

NOISE
- how is the level of noise generated by the fan and by the 7200 rpm disk?
- is the fan always on, even at a very low level?
- I've read a lot (even here) on the noise generated by the HP 4330/4530 series... how is the Vostro 3550, compared to those laptops? Quieter or more or less the same?

KEYBOARD
- how is the general quality of the keys? Do they feel spongy or show any other weakness? I assume that a semipro model as the Vostro should be better in terms of keyboard than the ordinary consumer notebooks. Is it?

Both these issues are very important to me, since I would use the laptop mainly in silent environments (libraries, office room...) for long typing sessions. So your advice on the matters would be decisive for my purchase.

Many thanks to all!

 

Manual is here:

Dell Vostro 3450 Owner's Manual

Really wanted this machine but the PITA to change drive (I tend to change drives semi-often to test out SSDs and such) is deterring me from doing so. You quite literally have to take the whole machine apart.

 

op31n2, with integrated graphics and under light load (web browsing, typing) the fan is hardly ever on. It's a common design for recent Dell models - the fan kicks in once in a while with medium speed only to cool the CPU down from 55 deg. C. to 50. Depending on what you are doing this happens less or more often, obviously. Actually it can be quite annoying too, but it's still much better than on those HP models you mentioned.

As for the keyboard, I'm really enjoying it (soft and quiet), but I know some, who hate it. So it's hard to tell.

hellfire88, unlike the 14", the 13.3" and the 15.6" have access to the drive via bottom cover, so perhaps one of those models might suite your needs.

 

Thanks for the info! Its odd how they were able to keep the hard drive easily swappable in the 13.3" model but not the 14" model....I wanted the more powerful ATI 6630m in the 3450 but guess I'll have to settle for the ATI 6470m in the 13" model.