Ram on XPS m170

can i aftermarket upgrade ram on the XPS m170 without have to get into a shop?

 

I believe both ram slots are user upgradable. I would check out dell.com as they have pretty detailed guides most of the time.

 

dell.com is hard to get around for me for some reason. it seems cryptic. but thanks

 

Yes you can, there is an online service manual for your computer on the Dell Website (good luck easily finding it though).

You have a cover on the bottom with 2 small screws that give you direct access to your memory.

Here are full instructions complete with step by step details and pictures...

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/xpsm170/en/sm/memory.htm#wp1034050

The complete online manual that tells you everything you need to know can be found here (you may want to add this link to your favorites so I never have to suffer through trying to find it for you again, here's a tip though, next time try doing a search on the Dell website for "XPS M170 Service Manual")...

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/xpsm170/en/sm/index.htm


You may also want to note the following found info about upgrading your memory found on the Viking web sites memory advisor:

So for best results, make sure you pair up your new memory with whats in there now or buy 2 new DIMMs that match when you go to do the upgrade.

The Viking advice is slightly misleading into making you think you can't just add a second DIMM if you currently only have 1 in there now, sounds like they are trying to lead people into thinking they must buy 2 modules from them instead of only one. You actually just need to make sure if you are adding a second DIMM (SODIMM) to an available empty slot that you match up with whats in there now in type, size, and speed and then just buying a single DIMM is actually acceptable for Dual Channel use.

Edit:
I guess I could clearify that a little better for you in simplistic detail so you get the drift of what it means.

Say you currently have 1Gig of total RAM on your system that's made up of 2 seperate 512M DIMMs (the little memory card things) and you wanted to add more memory by buying a 1 Gig single DIMM stick of memory. You wouldn't want to just pull out one of your 512M sticks and add in the new 1 Gig single stick for a thought total memory of 1.5 Gigs then, your memory would be mismatched because you would have 2 different size sticks of memory in it if you did that.

So if both of your memory slots are full (just open it up and peek in there if you aren't sure) and you wanted to add more memory, you'd want to replace both DIMMs. I noticed in the options for most the laptops I looked at it's common for many of these systems to come with by default 1 Gig of memory made up by using 2 seperate 512M sticks of memory and only if you selected the option for like an additional $20 would you of gotten your 1 Gig of memory installed from the factory on a single stick of memory (leaving the second slot empty and ready for another 1Gig single stick of memory available for you to add more memory later without the need of replacing the existing memory).

If I've confused you with all this, tell me where and I'll try to clearify a little better for you.

 

Wow thank you that helped alot. and thank you especially for getting that m170 serivce manual site from dell, i doubt i ever would have found that.