New Vostro Lineup (3350, 3450..)

You think wrong, because my stock Vostro 3550 came with TOSHIBA 7200RPM HDD.

 

I stand corrected.

Does your laptop make a whining sound?

 

I can't tell if it is the HD or not. Doesn't seem to change when the HD is in use or idle. But it does vary sometimes, getting quieter or louder. Many people might not notice it unless pointed out to them, but it bothers me, and as mentioned, it could be a sign of a problem.

 

Anyway you should call up Dell's tech support just to be sure. I believe all Vostro's come with 1 Year ProSupport, 1 Year NBD Onsite Service and a 30 day return policy.

 

Well, I don't know what sound you call whining, but I can hear a very silent high pitched noise in sync with HDD activity, but I can only notice it when I'm in a completely silent room with the laptop fan off and keeping my laptop within a distance of 10 inches from my head. If I lean back about 20 inches from my pc, I don't hear a thing. This sound doesn't bother me at all. Perhaps you have the other sound in mind.

 

Two Hard Disks !

Managed to fit a second disk to my 3350 using a caddy.

In the end I used a caddy from my Latitude E6500 and sliced a little notch of plastic away.

The optical drive bay indicates the post is SATA 1.5, even when a SATA 3 hard disk is attached.

So the new bay is fine for a hard disk but not one of the new very quick SSDs.

Will get around to buying an SSD and move the drives.

 

Pictures please, or else it just did not happen!

 

I have two noticeable noises - one is a more scratchy high pitched sound that seems to run in synch with the HDD - I don't find it too loud, only when quite close, and it doesn't bother me.

The other is a high pitched constant noise that seems to start off a little louder when the computer is just started then quiets a little afterwards. I hear it most distinctly from slightly to the left of the keyboard towards the screen base. I also hear it very loudly if I put the side-vent up to my ear. Piercing when up close. It can vary a little, but seems always present to me. It's not very noticeable when sitting well away from the laptop, but at the distance I sit from it, I hear it distinctly, especially in a quiet room. And as this is a work laptop, and I am usually sitting in quiet room, it is annoying. It's similar to the sound older tube TVs used to make when the volume was off - that high pitched whine. I have sensitive hearing in the upper frequencies (I hear better above 15 kHz than most 20 year olds - in fact, I hear up to 23 kHz!).

I've been so busy I haven't had a chance to call Dell, but plan to later today.

 

OK,

Two things

1) Sorry for the lame quality, my Windows Phone 7 has a naff camera.

2) No pictures of an actual hard disk in there , as I took apart an external disk then put it back together before taking photos.

Will add another picture when I have an SSD, or a hard disk in there later.

Vostro Extra HDD - a set on Flickr

 

My Vostro 3750 arrived today 2 days shipping from order date WOW!.

I'll update on my first impression of the laptop and pay close attention to any weird noise from the laptop if any.

I'll also be calling Dell later on today cause the laptop I just purchased dropped in price and comes with the free laptop sleeve now, before my purchase the Dell representative said that Dell will honor any price drops and offers within 30 days of my purchase date.