U450p, hard drive not user replaceable?

[mralex]

The manual doesn't mention it and I don't see anything at the back.

I am surprised!

[deshilachado]

hi mralex,

after you mentioned it, i also looked for a way to take out the hdd and couldn't find it. looks like it is not as easy to change the hdd as with other notebooks.

[yu130960]

Does anyone have access to the service manual for this laptop?

[deshilachado]

If you meant the normal user guide, that would be available for everyone

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?sitestyle=lenovo&lndocid=MIGR-73217

and I also have it on paper.

But you probably meant some manual for service personnel?

[yu130960]

Yes, thank you for the quick response.

I just ordered this laptop yesterday and was reading what I could on it.  It appears from your posts above that much like the Dell 14z there is no access to the hard drive.  This is confirmed in the spec sheets as well as the hard drive is non-user serviceable.

I am trying out an ssd in my desktop and if I like it down the road as the prices come down I wanted to put on in this laptop.  I imagine by that time there will be a service manual on how to fully disassemble this laptop to upgrade the harddrive.

Also, I really appreciate your insight into this laptop as there is not very much online by way of reviews with any depth.  You know it is too new when Youtube is on the only source for review information.

[mralex]

I was really surprised to find that the hard drive was not user serviceable.

I eventually opened up the whole thing and installed a new 7200RPM drive.

Opening it up was not that difficult. Just needed to be careful not to break some tiny keyboard connectors/cable.

This is a good thin 14" laptop with DVD; the only complaint is this built-in hard drive thing.

http://i41.tinypic.com/35hizhh.jpg

http://i41.tinypic.com/27yoif5.jpg

http://i42.tinypic.com/14l3faq.jpg

[lowe86]

Hi Mralex

Thank you for the pics.  Would you mind sending me more specific insructions on how to open up the case.  ie... how to take the key board out...   I would like to install a sdd hard drive.  It is hard going back to ta regular hard drive after getting used to an ssd.

Thanks

[deshilachado]

I would be interested in such instructions as well. Or maybe you could just post it right here in the forum?

And the picture with the heatpipe and fan is also interesting. Do you have another picture of the fan? The thing in the middle is probably the graphics card, right?

[lenaye]

Hi

I also wanted to replace my internal drive and could not find any info or instructions on how to do this anywhere. So I just went and did it myself and decided to write it up on my blog.

http://mcmlxv.blogsome.com/2011/05/06/replacing-lenovo-ideapad-u450p-internal-hard-drive/

Take a look. Basically, you have to pretty much take the whole machine apart in order to remove the internal drive, but if you follow the instructions it should be fairly straight foward.

However, to ansewr your question, the laptop has a SSD slot  underneath the machine (almost directly below the touch pad area). You can simply undo the 2 screws holding the cover and install the SSD there.

How to get the machine to starting using SSD is a different matter, however.

[vau]

Hi,

thank you for the guide!

You wrote that you replaced the harddisk with exactly the same model. Can you also use other harddisks? Does it have to be a 2,5" or 3,5 inch one? Since on its specification sheet it says it is between 2,5 and 3,5 inches.