M17x Upgradeable?

So I'm seriously considering purchasing an M17x, I called up Dell today to ask a few questions before making my final decision, and I noticed that they said some things that conflict with what I've seen on the internet.

I asked if I was able to upgrade anything on the laptop after it was shipped to me, like the HD and the DVD/Blue Ray player, and I was told that I can only add more memory. However I've seen on other forums and sites that it's possible to buy, for example, an aftermarket SSD and put it in the laptop. I would much rather do this because from Dell it's pretty expensive and I'm already spending a lot of money.

Does anyone know if this is indeed possible? Was the Dell rep not telling me the truth? Or would it void my warranty and stuff if I were to mess around inside of it...?

Thanks,
-DD

 

Download the service manual, it will even walk you through upgrades. Just make sure it is for your specific revision(r1 or r2).

 

And ALLWAYS REMEMBER: Tripple check the heat pipes if you are going to upgrade the CPU or GPU.

 

Things that can be upgraded are the optical drive, HDD - room for two, RAM, CPU, GPU's. Just keep what shipped with the system as new parts won't be covered under the dell warranty unless puchased from dell and installed by a dell tech.

 

Ok, thanks a bunch.

Would you know if it will save me any money to upgrade things like the HD myself? Also, what is the R2? I didn't see anything on the site that mentioned there being an R1 and an R2, unless the it is the different processors you can build it with.

 

R1 is the Core2Duo CPU version. Stay away from it, it suffers from dibilitating chronic problems of which it will always have due to the nvidia motherboard. R2 is the Core-i version. Completely differant motherboard by intel and works 10x better. HDD and mem might be cheaper to upgrade yourself, but adding a second GPU down the road will be costly as you would need to purchase the GPU, Crossfire cable, Heatsink, and fan. Much cheaper to get it initially.

 

Yeah, my spec had the best GPU, the 5870 crossfire I believe, and I did it with the i7, not the best one though, too expensive I was more interested in the HD because that will save me some money now, and I can always wait a paycheck or two to get one that I want. Same thing for the Optical Drive, I would like the BR burner but just can't afford it now.

Do you happen to know anything about the cost of the service plans? I was going to also just get a the one year, premium support from Dell, which seems like a nice, albiet expensive, plan. Then I was going to upgrade it later, possibly with my left over education money. I know it's expensive, but I couldn't get the Sales Rep to tell me just how expensive it would be, but I suppose I can always tackle that issue when it arises.