[W520] Warranty affected by hardware upgrades?

[svenschn]

Hi,

some days ago, I ordered a W520 (4 years on-site warranty + protection). Now, I'm thinking about the following upgrades:

- upgrade the RAM to 8 GB, i.e., install an additional 4 GB module

- install an Intel 310 SSD (mSATA)

My question is: can I install this hardware myself without voiding warranty?

I did some googling and it seems adding RAM shouldn't be a problem, right? Unfortunately, I couldn't find anything about the mSATA SSD.

Regards,

Sven

[christopherlang · Accepted solution]

Yes you can.

[svenschn]

OK, thanks!

[christopherlang]

YW. Look at it like this, if it has a slot, and you need to put something in it, and you need to get at it, the upgrade and what you need to do to do that will not void your warranty. If it did, I'd say time for a new machine from another laptop maker ;-).

Cheers

[nibs Guru]

For what its worth, I was told that unlike RAM, a mSATA SSD is not an FRU and installing one voids the warranty. I think this was just a case of an uninformed sales rep. You may want to dig deeper.

[alphaman]

I don't see the big problem. 
Revert system back to factory specs before claiming warranty.

 

[christopherlang]

Exactly. It's not like you can count on your upgrades to be returned with your serviced laptop either.

[cliff1127]

does that mean one needs to keep the original parts after making the upgrades? for example, if i upgraded to different RAM or SSD, when I send in for warranty do i need to include the original RAM and HD? that would be a big pain in my opinion...

[critical_]

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cliff1127 wrote:

does that mean one needs to keep the original parts after making the upgrades? for example, if i upgraded to different RAM or SSD, when I send in for warranty do i need to include the original RAM and HD? that would be a big pain in my opinion...

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I've upgraded the CPU (i7-2960XM), added mSATA (Intel 310 80GB), replaced the RAM (4x8GB for 32GB), replaced ard drives (upgraded 2 320GB in RAID0 to 2 1TB in RAID0), added a Lenovo internal modem, and plan on buying the W530's Bluetooth 4.0 module. The warranty remains on the non-modified parts. Obviously Lenovo isn't going to replace a bad drive or bad CPU so I take it up with the manufacturers directly. I also sprang for on-site next business day warranty since it is much easier to get custom parts swapped with the local technicians. If you have a depot warranty then having the original parts is probably a good idea and I would never send a hard drive back... ever!

[cliff1127]

ok thanks for the tips and speedy response!

have any of you experienced using Lenovo's thinkpad accident protection warranty? I was reading up on some forums last night and it seems like while almost everything is covered under this protection, Lenovo is extremely slow and sometimes loses people's returned products. Makes me rethink whether or not the $300 warrany was worth it a couple yrs ago...

Also are there any specific numbers that you call to get help regarding servicing your Thinkpad? I tried calling in today to just get my original invoice emailed to me and I was on hold for 30+ minutes, and then the lady said she would email it to me in the next 24 hrs-- fingers crossed.