Upgrading a laptop HD, is it difficult?

Hi,

After doing quite a bit of lurking and reading I have decided to buy a Dell Inspiron 1520. But, I am thinking of leaving the HD option at the default and buying my own HD aftermarket, since I can get a better name brand HD for less money that way. This is what I will be doing for the memory to save some money and also get better memory, but I am a bit nervious about doing it for the HD. I have never installed an operating system before or configured a system from scratch, is it difficult? Another thing that concerns me is will I have to buy a new OS? I know that Dell gives you a "Recovery Disk", but is this a full operating system, or just like a D drive on a CD? Also, what about all of the drivers for the differen't components(standard computer components, not extra perhiperals like a sound card), will they all have to be installed again or do they store their drivers on-board?

Thanks,

Brandon

 

Very easy on that Inspiron, and the Dell disk is the full OS. Drivers are separate, they should be on a second cd Dell gives you.

Make sure you get the right type btw, SATA.

 

Hello aaa,

Thanks for the reply. I think I will be getting the HD aftermarket. I didn't realize it would be so simple. And I am pretty sure I will be going with a Hitachi 7K200, 160GB HD. In all the reviews it seems to be the newest and best. I was also considering a Seagate Momentus 7200.2, but the Hitachi has double the cache and they cost nearly the same.

Here's the Hitchi at Newegg I am looking at: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822145180

Thanks,

Brandon

 

Also see this thread about the Hitachi.

John

 

The Hitachi 7K200 160 GB is one of (maybe only?) the hard drives Dell uses as the 160 GB, 7200 RPM option, so make sure it is cheaper to get the cheapest Dell option and buy your own HDD than to just upgrade from Dell. The Seagate one is the only competitor at 160 GB, 7200 RPM right now, so you won't be stuck with some brand no one ever heard of if you do upgrade from Dell.

 

Nice read, thanks.

Thanks for pointing that out, I didn't realize Dell would actually use a decent part. I think I will still get it after market though, that way I can just convert the HD the Dell comes with to an external HD.