is the network card user replacable?

More specifically the WiFi card. When i saw the specs on newegg it mentioned 80211n support which is what I wanted but what it didn't mention is that the 80211n card apparently only communicates on the 2.4 bandwidth and not the 5. Since I have a dual band router I want to send all my G devices to the 2.4 band and all the N devices to the 5 band and i'm currently forced to use the G band on this laptop.

I'm pretty computer literate and i've build my own desktop computers for years but with how proprietary everything is in a laptop I'm wary of cracking mine open and trying to manually replace a network card and i don't even know if such a thing is possible since it may be built into the MoBo I just don't know. I also don't know where I can go to get parts, all I've seen online are external NIC cards that utilize either SmartCard or USB. Can I maybe take it to a local authorized repair shop and have them upgrade me for a nominal fee?

 

Yep.
10char

 

Wireless cards are super simple, it's essentially the same difficulty as adding a stick of RAM and then attaching the antennae to the 2 posts (little screws). The best available wireless card, Intel 6200, can be had for under $30

No need to disassemble your laptop either, the card is easily accessed through the main service panel on the bottom of the machine.

 

I got the 6200 for around $25 shipped. And yes just remove the back panel and you will see the card right there. It takes all of 30 seconds to swap out.

 

sweet! Thanks for the tips everyone I'll look into doing this soon.

 

there's a seller on ebay that ships it really fast, i ordered my 6200 from him for $18 shipped.

 

not quite 30 seconds but it was fairly easy.. since pulling off the access panel, looking at a couple tear apart videos and replacing the NIC card i do have one other question. It looks like the video card is accesable from the same operation panel, can I actually pull out the 5870 and replace it with an NVIDIA notebook card?

 

Nope, for the GPU you'll have to crack open the whole deal,have a look at the disassembly video posted somewhere in here to have a better look at how it looks and you'll see what I mean
and if I'm not mistaken there is also issues about the fit....

 

I don't know if the JH mobo will work with the NVIDIA card. That and it probably wont fit and the cooling solution is probably a tad different.

 

or sell the JH and buy a jw

 

I dont think the frame rate increase I'd get from the 460 would warrant replacing the whole computer.. if it had the 480 then maybe..