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I own this laptop and I have read/heard that upgrading one the hdds to ssd would be very cool.
Any advice in here on what to buy in scan.co.uk?
I use my computer to play some games, email, videos... nothing hardcore.
thanks in advance.
these are the specifications of my laptop:
cnet.com/laptops/dell-xps-17-l702x/4507-3121_7-35186752.html
This would be fine if the you don't need masses of storage. It also comes with a conversion kit. http://www.scan.co.uk/products/250gb...20mb-s-512mb-9
Hope this helps,
SniprUK
Thanks a lot for your answer.
the evo is a good drive. The XPS17 has two HDD bays IIRC. You should be able to add an SSD and keep the existing HDD too in which case a 250GB drive is the right one to go for. Note you can get them off amazon and other stores. I picked one up in the christmas sales for quite a nice price on Amazon. Or you could go 120GB SSD to save money but it takes a performance hit compared to the 250GB and higher capacity versions.
If you can afford more then either the 840 Pro (better speed and power usage) or else a bigger capacity EVO could be used instead.
Thanks for the answer, my laptop has two bays and two hdds, idea is to get one 250 gb to replace the one with the os/programs and leave the other one as storage :D
I'll check the pro. :D
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/965?vs=665 comparisonQuote:
Originally Posted by merovingio
useful review articles:
840 Pro http://www.anandtech.com/show/6328/s...o-256gb-review
840 Evo http://www.anandtech.com/show/7173/s...-models-tested
on why setting 20GB unused is a good idea: http://www.anandtech.com/show/6489/playing-with-op
one thing that just occurred to me. If you have two drives in there, check whether they are RAID set up or standard set up (boot drive and separate storage drive)
If the latter you can simply take out the boot drive, do a clean install on the SSD and have a ready to roll HDD to swap back in at a later date if you decide to sell it.
If the former, be aware that RAID needs both HDD present to work, and you will need to back up everything of importance onto an external device before installing the SSD.
Thanks a lot for the answers, I have another question and this one is very stupid, which version should i buy ford the ssd, the basic one or the laptop upgrade one?
I am supposed to copy and image of the hdd 1 of my laptop into the ssd and then exchange it no?
No don't bother. Do a clean install without all the bloatware. Download the drivers you do want from the dell support site. (Basic)Quote:
Originally Posted by merovingio
edit the only useful thing in the upgrade version is the USB cable, but you can pick that up easily enough. Both versions come with the migration software itself SFAIK.
I am afraid that option is not for me, I have no way to make a clean installation of windows since dell didnt provide me with a win 7 disc :(
Almost every pc shipped comes with a piece of software to create a repair disc.
I downloaded a clean iso from microsoft website and i am gonna create a bootable usb to do a clean installation, that way everything will work fine (I hope)... I've put the link in here in case anybody finds it useful.
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/w...7-1c8486a46ebf
Dell laptops usually come with a hidden partition on the HDD which contains recovery software.
You should have a tool in Windows which allows you to create recovery media from your machine before you replace the HDD.
This will be a customised version of Windows which already has the right drivers built in (although they are probably old versions).
I've just purchased a Samsung EVO SSD (in part due to this very helpful thread), and as you suggest, I definitely want to do a clean OS install without all that Dell bloatware!Quote:
Originally Posted by ik9000
How do I determine the minimal necessary utilities/drivers required? For instance, Dell's driver installation order specifies that Dell's Notebook System Software (NSS) is essential, and should be installed first.
Is it really essential, or does this constitute part of the bloatware?
Is there an option to install only part of the NSS?
Thanks ...
go to the dell website, support, enter your service tag and go to drivers and downloads
it should list each driver independently. Try installing just the ones you want. Does it still do what you want? If not, it may be in NSS. They used to have a thing called Quickset which set up all the function key links etc etc. Not bloatware in the purest sense. Not essential but useful. Not sure if NSS is their newer version of this. What does it do?
Windows should install without any drivers these days enough to see what you then need. It just won't be quite right using the built in windows drivers. e.g. wrong screen resolution, problems with USB ports etc. Use device manager to see which components have the yellow triangle and find the relevant driver from Dell support to fix each one.Quote:
Originally Posted by skyh
I usually go:
windows install
screen/display driver (Dell)
mobo+chipset drivers
eg sound driver
USB3
network/ethernet
wifi
graphics card driver (direct from Nvidia or AMD website)
NV optimus driver or AMD equivalent
trackpad driver
function keys
optical drive
then any custom drivers for mouse/joystick/external screen/wifi dongle etc
Don't waste time doing any software install until all drivers installed and everything is functioning how you want it to. NB to do a few sleep-suspend-hibernate-restart cycles to check that is running ok,
Check the power management settings are to your liking and is detecting when the AC power is removed + what happens at that point (screen brightness change, CPU down clocking etc) - this may be another thing customised in the Dell NSS.