will this hdd and ram work for dv9500?

hey everyone!

i'll soon be ordering a dv9500 customizable and i am considering doing some upgrades myself instead of paying for the overpriced upgrades at their website.

The upgrades would mainly be a second hard drive and some ram.

Ok for the hard drive i'd like a 7200 rpm hard drive to replace the default 160gb 5400 rpm hard drive (so the one that comes from factory would go on the second bay). One question: if i order a this notebook with only one hard drive can i still upgrade to two later? or am i getting a different motherboard or something like that..?

This is what i found:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3201424&CatId=1277

How hard is it to switch the hard drives and get it working? should i? will this void my warranty?


The second upgrade would be ram, ill be ordering with 2gb of ram (2 x 1gb sticks) and get 4gbs of ram (2 x 2gb sticks)

This is what i found:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3233711&CatId=150
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3175958&CatId=150
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820144084
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227251
Which one is better? why? are they better or at least the same as the one provided by hp when selecting the 4gb option?

void my warranty? (upgrading ram by myself)


One last thing; is the "HP Expresscard TV Tuner" digital or analog? do you think i should get it on their website when buildind the notebook or order it from somewhere else?



if anyone can direct me to better deals PLEASE do so! any comments are welcome!!


thank you all very much for your help!

Alex

 

First off, the RAM is WAAAY overpriced. Read our RAM Deals thread to get 4GB for a about $200 total.

Especially juicy: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820208323

 

is it over priced or superior? i cant tell the difference...

Alex

 

RAM is RAM. They're all the same.

 

If you want to put another HDD, you will need a steel support and a SATA plug for it. That will cost about $40 extra from HP.
Go to DELL web site and grab a Seagate Momentus 7200 160GB for $130 delivered.

 

I think that's a bit too simplified. For generic usage, most RAM does perform similarly, but for the overly concerned OCD "gotta have the best" people, CAS latency and timings differentiate budget and perfomance RAM.

 

About the hdd, I put the exact same one in my dv6500t, it was very easy to install. The hdd is also really fast in comparison to my 120 gig 5400rpm stock drive, it can run circles around it, I highly reccomend it. Also, if you're putting in a second drive and don't already have one then you will have to get those items that suland mentioned.

 

hmm ok.. im thinking the hard drive thing might be a bit more complicated than i thought.

Will any of these upgrade void the warranty?

Alex

 

No, unless it is the cause of the notebook malfunction. Aka, if you screw up your laptop trying to put a HDD in, HP's not going to give you a new one, but if you laptop dies later on because of motherboard failure, HP will replace it under warranty.

 

i see. thanks

Alex

 

ok, so i finally ordered my dv9500 finally!!!

so since i ordered it with 1gb of ram a need to upgrade and i want to go ahead and buy the ram this week to have it ready when the notebook arrives. I want to upgrade to 4gb so a 4gb kit or puchasing separate 2gb sticks will be fine. I want good reliable quality but not spend more than $250. I checked the "hot ram deals" thread but i thought i would ask again compared to whats in newegg http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCategory.aspx?SubCategory=381&name=Laptop-Memory

if you got a minute check em out and let me know so i can go ahead and purchase it

thanks for the help, remember it has to be compatible with the dv9500 and im not sure what that would be ram wise.. thanks!

Alex

 

avillabon,

Did you use the 20% off coupon located in the Student Discounts and Coupons thread? If not I would cancel your order and use the coupon, because you will save more money with it than if you used the $150 instant rebate and the Student Discount HP gives you. If you didn't use the coupon, you have 24 hours to cancel the order with HP, then you can reorder it.

For the RAM:
The 2GB of Transcend will work on the DV9500t and it is $98.99 for 1-2GB stick, so you would just need to order 2.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820208323
You can also get the G.Skill RAM, it is sold in the 2-2GB for $209.99.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231135
Or you can go with other manufacturers, and Newegg has some great prices on them. Theres no need to spend much more than $210 on RAM though.

Whatever RAM you do decide to buy, just remember that the max speed RAM that the DV9500t can handle is 667Mhz which is PC5300 or PC5400.

 

Everyone's just going to tell you to check the hot ram deals thread. For a laptop, ram is ram. as long as it works and has a warranty, that's all you need to worry about. The companies that try to push "performance" ram for laptops are mainly full of it.

 

yes, i did use the coupon and saved $367 instead of $150

as for ram thank you for the links provided. If you had to choose between "transcend" or "g.skill" which one would you get? i dont mind which one but i really dont know enough to make the decision myself. thanks again guys!

Alex

 

avillabon,

I bought the G.Skill just because I've purchased their RAM in the past and haven't had any problems. I've heard from many people that have a DV9500t that have purchased the Transcend and it works great for them and they haven't had any problems. They are basically the same and you won't notice any difference in performance between the two manufacturers, so its basically a personal choice because its only a $10 difference in the price between the two.

 

just an update.. went ahead and ordered the transcend 2gb (bought 2)... thanks for all you help everyone! hopefully both the laptop and ram arrive soon

Alex

 

is it hard to install the ram? can i accidentally screw up or break something?

Alex

 

Installing RAM is very simple. It's made to be user replaceable. If the RAM doesn't come with a guide on how to do it, there are many on the net. Basically you open the bottom door, pop out the old ram, put in the new ram. There are clips in the left and right side that you need to release, that's it. If you have to use a lot of force, you're doing it wrong.

After you get the RAM, make sure to test it! Check the guide in my sig.

 

ok will do! thanks.. after installed i just boot normally, correct?

Alex

 

Yes, RAM is always a plug and play because it never needs any drivers or software.

 

Yes, just boot normally