Upgrading the M11X R1 difficulty?

Looking into buying a used/refurb M11X R1. Since it seems like the lower-spec'd ones are the better deals, I was curious how hard the following upgrades are to perform:
1. Bluetooth card
2. RAM upgrade
3. Hard drive upgrade (to SSD)

I'm quite experienced with building desktops, so the prospect of a bit of screwdriver work doesn't bother me.

Follow-up: can you upgrade the RAM from 2x1gb to 4gb+1gb, or is there insistence on matched sizes?

I appreciate the info, and with luck, I'll be joining the ranks of M11x owners soon...

 

I do not know if you can do the 4gb +1Gb config.


1. BT card is the hardest of the upgrade listed here, it takes some electronics handy-work to take the laptop partially apart and reassemble
2. RAM is easy...remove the screw and the door and replace
3.. HD is easy....remove the screw and the doro and replace.

 

When I got mine, I opted for the base model, but the nice CPU, and bluetooth. Everything else I added my self. Very easy to do. If you are interested in ever having the wwan card though, get it from the factory.

 

Discothan is correct. RAM + HD are a piece of cake.

As for memory - all memory configs from Dell come as 2-slot configs. 2x1GB, 2x2GB, or 2x4GB. There is no option for 1 RAM slot free. Your best bet is to just get 4GB (2x2GB), which should be reasonably priced and more than enough for just about anything you'd want to do with it.

 

Sounds good. Can I just buy the RAM anywhere, or is the M11x picky? (If there's a memory compatibility thread, let me know.)

I have one of those 2-dollar Bluetooth mini-dongles that have been mentioned elsewhere, so the Bluetooth card isn't really a big deal. WWAN is also not necessary (I'll either tether or use a dongle).

Again, I greatly appreciate the help.

 

SSD is super easy. RAM upgrade unfortunately doesn't yield much of a speed increase.

 

Also if you run RAM of different size in the two slots your comp won't run in dual-channel mode which will result in a speed decrease. If you get a single 4gb stick don't even bother leaving the 1gb one in there.

Ram of different speeds will run at the lowest speed RAM you have installed, though with a CPU limit of 800mHz not sure how important this is.

 

does the m11 have wimax capability?

 

You can add wimax but the last time I checked Dell/AW doesn't offer a card that supports it from the factory. Changing the wifi card is no harder than changing the ram or hdd though so it's not tough at all. The best card you can swap right in that supports wimax is the 6250, there are others that are a bit better but they require the addition of more antenna lines.

 

where would i purchase the 6250 card

usual searches on google shopping cant find anything

just curious

 

Doing all the above is not that hard, I have installed aerials for my dell 5530 WWLAN card, blue-tooth will only be a problem in finding the correct module.

The laptop comes apart very easy, the screen is the hardest part as it clicks apart only and finger prints can be a real pain if you don't notice them on the inside.