S2110 HD Upgrade + Modular Bay Q's

Hello, I am quite interested in purchasing the new Turion based S2110, and I have just a few questions. (I know its new, but hopefully someone should be able to answer them).

1) Is the hard drive upgradeable by the user? I want a 5400RPM 60 or 80 gig hard drive, but I would rather pay $100 to purchase one on the side and install it myself (and then sell back the 40gig 4200RPM one) than pay $160 to upgrade to one. Looking at the manual, there is an un-named compartment underneath, which isnt the memory cover. Could this be the HD, or probably something else?

2) Is the hardrive in the S2110 SATA?

3) The whole "modular bay" thing; I've searched far and wide but no one has seemed to ask this question. What is the difference between a regular slim drive and a "modular" one? It seems to me that the size and interface are the same, and the only thing that Fujitsu does for their $180 DVD-RW drive is shave a little off the front betzel. Could I pop in an $80 DVD-RW, after dremeling the front panel to fit the slot?

4) When is the NBR review of the S2110 coming out...im getting anxious.

Thanks so much for your help,
Brian

 

Hi Brian

1)Hard drive is technically not user upgradable. Meaning, if you do replace it, you could potentially void your warranty. That being said, it is very easy to replace, just make sure to put back the old one whenever sending it in for repair. Why the don't list as user upgradable is stupid since it is very simple to replace. And yes that unnamed compartment is where the HD is placed.

2)I'm pretty certain the HD that came with the review model is not SATA, but I will double check.

3)not sure about this question, sorry.

4)I will submit the review hopefully within the week. I'm a resident physician and work 90 hours last week or else I would have written it up last week!

 

Nesbo,

Thanks so much for the reply. Are there any "Remove this sticker and you will void your warantee" stickers on the HD or on the HD case? I am aware that I would need to replace the HD if I needed warantee work, but I just want to make sure that there wouldnt be any physical evidence that I had changed it prior.

Still wondering about the modular drive

Brian

 

No, no warranty stickers or anything like that. It still baffles me that they don't consider the HD user upgradeable. Just an FYI, the cable that connects the HD to the motherboard is fairly delicate, perhaps Fujitsu thinks people would break that cable when changing a hard drive???!!!

I am almost done with the review so hang on tight!

 

Well, that should seal the envelope (after the review of course). Upgrading to a 5400RPM hard drive was the one thing that was holding me back, and I think that it's a done deal. Now to wait till November so I can actually purchase it (staying on a work schedule for now...have to wait!)

Brian

 

The DVD burner offered on the s2110 is a dual layer drive. To my knowledge there are no super slim dual layer drives at the moment. So most standard laptop burners should fit. You may have a problem with the bezel if there is an eject mechanism for the drive. You can probably cut it, but don't quote me on that. Master/Slave settings are also sometimes as issue. If you buy at PortableOne.com, the DVD burner is a $100 upgrade. Plus they have very good customer service.

 

Zazonz,

I realize that it is a $100 upgrade, but if I choose "No Optical Drive", then it is $150 cheaper than getting the DVDRW. Now, if you go to Newegg or ZipZoomFly, they have slim burners for $80...so...total savings of $70. I dont need a dual layer drive (I have never even owned a single dual layer disk..too expensive!), but I was wanting to know if someone could compare the drive (there *is* and eject mechanism on the S2110) to another slim drive.

Brian

 

You can take it out, but the drive you put it may have to be trimmed to fit. I know this is the case with other Fujitsu models. I'm sure Nesbo can enlighten us.