29 replies to this topic

[+warwagon]

Here is a question for all you laptop buyers out there. Before i get to the question I want to say, I'm not talking about the new ultra books (i'm assuming they won't have a hard drive cover on the bottom, but if they did that would be awesome). I'm referring to regular laptops.

Most laptops you can flip upside down and remove the hard drive from the machine. Other models for some reason make you take the whole thing apart, just to get to the hard drive. There was 1 Dell Inspiron I had the pleasure of workiing on. You flipped it over, removed the screws and the ENTIRE panel came off giving you access to the ram, hard drive and even THE FAN! It was fantastic. But then another model I just saw the service manual for when I was looking for a 17 inch laptop for my parents, had you remove the keyboard and palm rests (top of the laptop) just to remove the hard drive. So my question is.

Would you buy a laptop where you couldn't flip it over and simply remove the hard drive?

[+Vice]

I've bought laptops before where the hard drive wasn't easily accessible (PowerBook, iBook and 1st generation MacBook Pro) so I can see myself doing it again. Sure it's a pain to remove the drive having to take apart almost the entire laptop but I did it twice and how often do you change it? I have a MacBook Pro Unibody right now where it's very easy to change the hard drive by just removing a few screws on the bottom but even so I'm that bothered about such a feature.

[Arceles]

no.

[+warwagon]

Vice, on 27 April 2012 - 20:11, said:

but I did it twice and how often do you change it?

The part in a laptop that is most prone to failure is the hard drive. It's one of the only moving parts in a laptop (excluding SSD drivers) other than the fan.

[Hell-In-A-Handbasket]

warwagon, on 27 April 2012 - 20:07, said:

Would you buy a laptop where you couldn't flip it over and simply remove the hard drive?

After replacing the HDD on my MBP, not only do I refuse to buy another Mac, but also refuse to buy a easially removable HDD. Thumbs/hand hurt for a day and a half after wrestling the security screws out of that thing

[+ShMaunder]

Yea, I would. I'm more concerned getting easy access to the fan rather than the HD.

This laptop I'm writing on is blocked somewhere, but I have to take the entire thing apart just to clean it. I can't be bothered at the moment as it *still* works but does overheat all the time.

Even if a hard drive blows up... you can still boot from USB to make use of the laptop until you can be bothered to take it apart.

[+Vice]

warwagon, on 27 April 2012 - 20:14, said:

The part in a laptop that is most prone to failure is the hard drive. It's one of the only moving parts in a laptop (excluding SSD drivers) other than the fan.

Whilst I agree with you, I think the chances of it failing twice in the same laptop is quite small. Personally I'd prefer a thinner and lighter notebook which lacks the added bulk that an easy access system for a hard disk requires. I changed a hard disk in an iBook and a MacBook Pro (1st Gen) both times for upgrades.

[jeston]

I must admit I've never taken easy access (or lack thereof) to the hard drive under consideration when buying a laptop, and don't intend on scouring the service manual of my next potential laptop. However, if for some reason I knew ahead of time that I had to take everything apart I MIGHT be dissuaded. I've taken apart every laptop I've owned a few times for various reasons, so it's not really that big of a deal to me. If I had to choose between a better performing laptop that I had to take apart versus a (even slightly) lower performing laptop that had easy access, I'd still take the better performing laptop.

[Stetson]

Hell-In-A-Handbasket, on 27 April 2012 - 20:20, said:

After replacing the HDD on my MBP, not only do I refuse to buy another Mac, but also refuse to buy a easially removable HDD. Thumbs/hand hurt for a day and a half after wrestling the security screws out of that thing

Which model/year was it? I have an 08 model and changing the hard drive was a piece of cake.

[Hell-In-A-Handbasket]

Stetson, on 27 April 2012 - 20:27, said:

Which model/year was it? I have an 08 model and changing the hard drive was a piece of cake.

Think it is the 2nd Gen C2D, so 2007 I think. It's not a unibody

[Stetson]

Hell-In-A-Handbasket, on 27 April 2012 - 20:28, said:

Think it is the 2nd Gen C2D, so 2007 I think. It's not a unibody

Ah, ok. I haven't taken one of those apart, but the unibody models are pretty easy in my experience.

[rajputwarrior]

Hell-In-A-Handbasket, on 27 April 2012 - 20:28, said:

Think it is the 2nd Gen C2D, so 2007 I think. It's not a unibody

those are easy as hell. you take out the battery, unscrew the L shaped cover and pull out the HDD... done.

[Hum]

NO -- how else would I get rid of that embarassing poRn ?

[Max Norris]

No. Same goes for batteries, optical drives, memory cards, cleaning the fan(s) etc. I don't want to have to pull a gazillion screws just to get to them. I buy devices based on their functionality and ease of maintenance. Works of art need not apply.

[Hell-In-A-Handbasket]

rajputwarrior, on 27 April 2012 - 20:31, said:

those are easy as hell. you take out the battery, unscrew the L shaped cover and pull out the HDD... done.

Na, those are the regular MB, not the MBP, the memory was like that, to get to the HDD, I had to take off the entire top plate w/Keyboard, then security screw the HDD Cady housing from the Mobo.