HD/DVD upgrade for S6231/S7010?

I'm on the verge of buying the S6231 or S7010 (these are the models available in Canada). I'm trying to decide what optical/HD combo to get. I don't need a DVD burner now but may in the future.

1. Anyone know if I'll be able to buy a DVD burner in the future and plug it in to the modular bay? I imagine it would have to be built for the precise model.

2. Or would an external DVD burner thru firewire be a viable solution if I needed it some day?

3. Same question for HD - am I right that HDs are standardized, so it should be easy to buy a bigger capacity drive in the future and install it? Is this a user-doable job?

It's really refreshing to get real advice and info here, after the pathetic little the retailers seem to know about these models!

 

Yes the DVD drive is swappable...you can either change the type of drive or place a modular extra battery. An external DVD burner is also a viable option.

I did replace the hard drive in my s6231 and is easy to do. However, fujitsu states (from multiple tech agents I have talked to do at Fujitsu) that the HD is NOT "user-accessible" meaning that if you ever had to send in your computer for repair and they found out you changed the hard drive, you could potentially void your warranty. Stupid, I know, but those are Fujitsu's rules. Just makes sure you put the orignal HD back in if you ever need to send it in for repair.

Hope that helps

 

I use an external DVDRW thru USB and it is way better in my opinion. Laptop drives are inferior to desktop drives. So I just got a normal desktop drive (NEC) and put in an enclosure (vantec) ... the whole thing cost 90$ from newegg and I couldn't be happier.
That will work if you don't need to move the DVDRW because it's quite bulky and needs its own power supply.

Yup the models you are looking at use the standard 2.5" drives which you can easily upgrade on fujitsu notebooks without the need to disassemble anything. I upgraded my HDD after I got the standard drive with my machine, because it was a cheaper deal and I got to keep the old drive, which I now use as extra external storage.

 

Thanks for the replies! I like the idea of upgrading HD and using the old as backup storage, qwester. Are there enclosures of some kind available commercially to connect the old harddrive via usb/firewire to the notebook?

 

Yes, I have an alumnium pocket enclosure that cost about 20-30 bucks which I bought off newegg.com. Easy to install. Uses a usb connection. It's quite nice.

 

When I bought my hitachi 7k60 from zipzoomfly, they had a bundle offer. It came with a vantec aluminum enclosure (USB) for some $10 more. So I went for it, and it is great. I put my old 4200RPM 60GB in it and it is excellent for the tons of stuff that I have.

 

It is a lot more expensive to buy a DVD+RW drive after than to upgrade to it when you purchase. At P1 it is $100 to upgrade and I believe the drive sold separately is $350 at least on Fujitsu's website. One possibilty would be to order it with the modular battery and get an external burner. I have a NEC ND-6500A in a USB powered external case. The NEC is a the best laptop burner I've seen. You can pick up a case for around $20. Good Luck.

 

Zazonz, unfortunately I haven't been able to find a retailer who will swap the optical drive here in Canada (Vancouver). I'm stuck with the few factory options, which means it'll cost $500 to upgrade to the model with DVD burner (it also has faster CPU and bigger HD, which I don't want). Also that burner option isn't dual layer.

Anyway, I don't need the DVD burner now, so hopefully by the time I do the price of an external setup will be low.

 

I believe PortableOne.com ships to Canada.