Great price for a N82JQ-A1!

I'm seeing the ASUS N82JQ-A1 on Amazon for $899.99 and free shipping. That's a pretty good discount to everyone else I see out there and I'm thinking of pulling the trigger. However, there's a few upgrades I want to do but I'm not sure how to do them myself. So, does anyone have any experience upgrading the RAM, HDD and (most importantly) the wireless card in the N82JQ-A1? I want to put in 8GB of RAM, a Hybrid HDD and a better wireless card. How hard is it to do that with this machine?

 

Each of those is easy to do. Ram just plugs in under the back cover and wireless card too ( although I have the stock one and it seems to perform well) hard drive is also easy to remove. Buy a hard drive ( like the seagate momentus xt hybrid or a pure ssd) and also buy a hard drive duplicator. you can get one for about $70 that will create an exact bootable copy of your existing. It's A handy tool to have around.

lotsa models out there but here is one
Bytecc Stand Alone Hard Drive / Solid State Drive Duplicator at Memory Express Computers

 

Seagate has a free tool on their website if you use the Momentus XT, and has step-by-step instructions on how to do it even. Or, you can still download a 30day full function trial copy of Acronis TrueImage 2010 and accomplish the same thing (the 2011 free trial disables the clone disk option). External drive enclosure cost $10-15 @ NEgg - you don't need a dedicated component as recommended by benamin.

 

What about inserting the wireless card? Is it even needed? I had read that the included wireless card isn't very good and upgrading increased performance by a noticeable amount.
The RAM and HDD upgrades are easy enough, I was planning on getting the Seagate momentus xt hybrid anyway. I wouldn't even bother with duplicating the HDD, just clean install and if I run into problems pop in the original HDD. But maybe the duplicator would make sense for me since I'm buying two laptops and it would make setting up the second that much easier.

 

That's why it is a handy tool. Hard drives are pretty cheap these days and I have had failures in the past in my desktop system so now I just replace/upgrade once in a while and this duplicator makes it a snap without getting involved in software etc. just stick drive in/ press duplicate button/ put new one in computer and away you go like nothing ever changed. I then keep the older one as a bootable out of the system backup. (or stick it in my wifes computer. I get the new stuff!

 

The included wireless card is fine. Changing it, like I did, was somewhat of a pain. You have to remove every screw from the back, then every screw under the keyboard. Keep track of the screw types. Take care to remove the cables under the keyboard before removing the top cover.

Btw there are hidden screws under the DVD drive and under the battery.

 

jamus28:
I ask this because I'm curious, if the included wireless card is fine why did you change it? I had thought that the included card is woefully lacking in its ability to connect when compared to other cards at similar differences and signal strengths. Am I wrong?

 

So, I ordered two of the N82JQ-A1's from Amazon about 10 minutes ago. As far as I could tell it's the best price for them on the web. Beating the closest competitor by about $110. I'll be sure to write up a little review when I receive them.
Jamus28, I'd still like to know why you changed the wifi card if the stock one is "fine". I'm still considering upgrading it myself and just want to know if I should bother or just leave it in. I really only use wireless when traveling, I have a wired connection when at home.

 

It was only a case of wanting the best. I ordered a $24 intel 6200N along with my n82jv from amazon. It may be a huge difference, but I didn't do enough comparative testing to find out.

 

Ah, I understand. I guess I'll leave it in for now and swap it out only if I need to.