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    SONY VAIO VGN-NS31M/S upgrade advices

    Discussion in 'VAIO / Sony' started by GeorgeAce91, Jul 30, 2015.

  1. GeorgeAce91

    GeorgeAce91 Newbie

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    Hello,

    i own the current model. Recently i got a message:read disk error occured, so it look slike a burnt hard drive. Can you please help me on the specs of a hArd drive that will fit the current laptop?

    And my 2 question is: can i upgrade the ram from 4gb to 8?

    thank you
     
    GeorgeAce91, Jul 30, 2015
    #1
  2. GeorgeAce91

    GeorgeAce91 Newbie

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    any1 guys?
     
    GeorgeAce91, Jul 31, 2015
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  3. Primes

    Primes Notebook Deity

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    I had to look up the specs of your laptop which i found here.

    sony vaio 15.4", T3400 CPU, 4Gb DDR2 667 MHz ram, Radeon Mobility HD 3430, 320gb hdd.

    The hard drive you would need is a standard laptop hard drive, 2.5" form factor with SATA (3.0Gb/s or better) connection, 5400 or 7200 rpm.
    But, if I were you I would not get a hard drive, but instead, a SSD, which would increase usability immensely.
    As for the ram upgrade, I did see one listing stating that laptop could take 8gb ram, but I highly doubt it. That laptop is very similar to my vgn-sr290 and most likely uses the gm/pm 45 chipset too. you *might* be able to run 6gb in a 4gb+2gb configuration, but its a gamble. I would stick with the 4gb and a SSD. If you do get a SSD and restore your OS to Vista using your recovery media, you'll need SSD trim software as Vista doesn't support trim natively. Windows 7 and higher have built in trim support.

    When you swap out your hard drive be very careful with the ribbon cable connector as they can be fragile. Try not to bend it more than necessary.
     
    Primes, Jul 31, 2015
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  4. anytimer

    anytimer Notebook Virtuoso

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    Totally agree with S. Prime about the SSD. The improvement in performance over an HDD is immense.

    Many SSD manufacturers have utilities that look after their products, offering diagnostics and TRIM, etc. E.g., my 2.5" Intel SSD is well served by Intel SSD Toolbox. So look out for that while deciding which SSD to get. If the SSD is thinner than the HDD it is replacing, just cut out a sheet of cardboard or plastic to make up the difference.
     
    anytimer, Jul 31, 2015
    #4