How hard is to install a SSD in the X220 by the DIY method?

Im considering purchasing this laptop but cant afford the SSD offered by Lenovo. I'd like to buy one later and fit it in. How hard is this to do?

 

Very. Before you start, you actually have to burn a set of recovery disks (unless you want to reinstall windows by hand). After that, with all the manuals that they provide and even the video tutorials at Lenovo Service and Support Training its ridiculous.

After that, you actually have to pop in a CD to do the factory imaging. Talk about manual labor.. I'm not fit to do such a thing.

 

I haven't done it personally, but judging from the W520, it should be literally:

1. Find a screwdriver that fits
2. Use the screwdriver to loosen the drive bay screw
3. Remove drive bay
4. Take out HDD tray
5. Find another screwdriver that fits the screws on the HDD
6. Undo them
7. Take out the HDD from the rails
8. Put the SSD into the rails
9. Do up the screws
10. Plug it into the computer
11. Put the drive bay back on and screw the screw back in place

Yes, I tried to make that as long as possible.

 

The swapping can be very easy as long as you have got a screwdriver. However keep in mind that if your SSD is not 7mm thick and you have to mod it by removing the spacer, then it might be difficult to find appropriate screws if you haven't got any other spare SSD of 7mm thin.

The tricky part is how to install OS. You could create factory recovery disks before the swap, and apply the recovery after the swap; or you could simply carry out a clean installation of OS after the swap.

 

Can't you just boot from a USB stick containing bootable Windows 7 files?

 

@XX55XX: You could boot witha W7 usb, and I believe you can also do the recovery media onto a USB (but you need at least a 16GB flash drive i think).

Physically installing a regular SATA ssd is easy. If its a 7mm drive, just slot it in through the side. One caveat, the spindle hard drive has rubber "rails" for fit (for dampening and etc), whereas by design, SSDs are supposed to be slotted in using plastic spacers. Not entirely sure what the difference is between the two, but from the lenovo parts there is a seperate mounting bracket/rails setup for SSDs. Personally I just ignored that and stuck with the rubber rails without any problems. If its not a 7mm ssd, you can either mod it to fit, or I believe if you dismantled the entire machine, you'd be able to install a 9.5mm SSD, but it would be significantly more difficult as this entails removing the mainboard so that you can get it to all fit in properly. (I've fit a 9.5mm drive in without a problem, the 7mm limitation seems to be for the frame--you cant slide in a drive thicker than 7mm, but if you actually look under the keyboard theres plenty of space for the remaining 2.5mm).

 

Will doing it this way void the warranty ?? (opening it and removing the mobo to gain access)

 

I hear the X220 can do a mSATA SSD + 7mm 2.5" HDD setup - how would I proceed? Any instructions on this site?