D630 Owners Thread

I'm in the same boat. The price diff. compared to the poorly made Dell branded 9-cell is significant. If it got close to the same runtime as the OEM 9-cell (around 5-6 hours) then it would be worth it.

 

Yeah I think I might get 2 of them (one for mine and one for my gf's dell). I did a google search on that brand of battery and apparently it's one of the best brands you can get. Some even say way better than OEM.

 

Please see my reply in your thread. I do not recommend aftermarket batteries, especially when OEM ones can be had for around the same price.

 

Where do you find the oem ones for the same price? For the 9 cell extended?

I haven't heard good things about the OEM dell batteries anyways. I've needed one for quite a while now, but just never got one (I just keep it plugged in). My OEM died in less than a year.

 

What are the options for replacing the hard drive on my D630?

The original is a 160gb SATA 5400rpm and I am not sure if it is OK, it is making the odd clicking/shuffling noise which sounds like my old IBM T23 made before it packed in. I have reported the overheating issues earlier in the thread and it may be related to that?

I have a backup of my data so if it goes I am covered. I think I might replace it just to be safe, so will any 2.5 inch laptop drive do the job as long as it is SATA? If there are any popular replacements then would be grateful for any feedback


Thx
Snaffos

 

Check Ebay. Look around, good deals pop up from time to time. If they're an auction, you'll have a pretty good chance of getting it cheap (got a new 6-cell E4300 battery for $20 that way ).

As for the hard drive, any SATA 2.5" drive will do. Seagate 500GB is less than $100 on Amazon.

 

Windows 7 driver for NVIDIA Quadra 135S - is the Dell D630 Vista driver ok or should I see if there is one available from NVIDIA specifically for the Quadra 135S ?


Robin,
Thx for the tip on the Seagate HDD


Rgds
Snaffos

 

Download it from Nvidia's website, it's much newer than Dell's version.

 

There are some 500gb 2.5" Seagate SATA drives available on eBay UK at £50, brand new in manufacturers sealed box. The spec is 5400rpm with 8mb cache, part number ST9500325AS. This seems a reasonable price to me so I will probably get one and replace the existing 160gb drive in my D630.

How easy is it to replace the internal hard drive, ie, is it from the top or the bottom of the D630. I am OK with taking the keyboard out and getting to the RAM chip under the keyboard but is it much more dismantling to replace the hard drive?

Thx for any info
Snaffos

 

No need to remove the keyboard or get into the internals. The harddrive is under the palm rest on the side with the wifi switch and audio ports. It's just two screws on the bottom and the harddrive tray slides out the side. Its very easy.