[kustardking]

Thanks for the reply.  Now, I don't buy the "reduced support calls" hypothesis.  Rather, I think Nokia has always been about black-box electronics (phones for goodness sake!), and so their business model does NOT allow for user upgrades.  They have ALWAYS been about obsolescence.  You buy a new one each time.  They have entered the computer space, but without matching its current expectation of upgradeability (since, again, that isn't their business model).  I can only speak for myself: I think Nokia's decision is LAME.  Instead of doing a buy-upgrade-buy-upgrade cycle, they want me to do a buy-buy-buy-buy cycle.  Well, you know what Nokia?  I'm going to do a pass-pass-pass-pass if I can't tune the system the way I like it.

Besides, one of the biggest in-the-wild complaints about their booklet is exactly the ridiculously slow drive.  I won't buy a Booklet unless there is a path to speed.  The Atom is awful.  I have a 230 for a firewall, which is fine, but my 330 with ION for an HTPC is painfully slow, even with a 7200 RPM drive.  The Atom with an SSD will be tolerable.

[debilo]

@myroslav

How can you tell by looking at pictures that the device is not upgradable? If you mean that there is no visible hatch, you are right of course. It must be possible to open the device, though. When it's open, the HD can be exchanged.

What I find even worse than the slow HD is that it is constantly clicking when it's parking the head. If you are doing something which requires low HD activity, like writing a comment on this forum, the HD is clicking and spinning down/up every 2 seconds. *click* - *spinning down* - *click* - *spinning up* - *click* - *spinning down* - *click*... 

This is especially annoying when writing something in Word. The device is spinning down and needs to spin up before you e.g. can open the context menu. This results in a notable lag. You click the right mouse button to open the context menu - *click* - *spinning up* - context menu ist there - *click* - *spinning down*. I've never ever experienced a HD being this bad in this regard.

The actual speed of the drive is not as bad as it sounds. It's basically OK. Really no big problem in regular operation. The big problem is that constant parking of the HD! I can't imagine that this is too good for the device either.

[kustardking]

OK, so someone *please* put up instructions on how to open it, and show some pictures of its insides.

[ceroberts75]

while i am not willing to open my personal unit, if you look closely, it looks like there are 2 or 4 clips that need to be pushed back to release the bezel around the kb agains the hinge, and then it would slide up to release from the touchpad area where there are little **bleep** that hold it down (if you take the battery off, you can see how it is wedged in)

[clichtenberg]

And it was quit simple.

I just took a CreditCard, put it into the small gap between  the black keyboard-bezel and the display-hinge. With this "tool", I could simply pop up the backside of the keyboard, then put it to the front. Under it, you will find a heat sink. Simply open the 7 screws and carefully lift it up (you have to pull it out from the sides). And then you will see:

IT IS ABSOLUT **bleep**, THAT THE HARDDISK IS SOLDERED TO THE MAINBOARD!

It's a standard 1.8" Toshiba SATA-HDD, in a sort of rubber frame. I will try to put in a Samsung SSD instead.

In a view minutes, I will upload a pic to my MobileMe-account and post a link. 

[debilo]

WOW! Thank you very much, clichtenberg! Can you please upload a small series of pictures which shows how exactly you did it? On my machine the keyboard bezel is so flush with the aluminium body that not even a paper fits in there.

[clichtenberg]

Here's the link:

Nokia Booklet open 

[debilo]

I the memory chip soldered on? 

[clichtenberg]

@debilo:

This is what I thought as well. But look at the backside, close to the display!

I have not made pictures of the porcedure, but I will. 

Message Edited by clichtenberg on 05-Dec-2009 09:31 AM

[clichtenberg]

Yes, it is. :-(

Look at my pictures; I think it's the grey thing on the left.

[debilo]

There don't seem to be any waranty stickers. That's very careless, Nokia.

[debilo]

I'm not sure whether chipset and Bios support SSDs. I'd definitely research this before ordering.

[clichtenberg]

I thought I could use the Samsung which is inside my Vaio TT. So I just opened this one (I did sweat for fear because this is a more than 2.000,- laptop!) ... just to see that they build in a version without housing. 

So - I will simply try a new one, I have to buy. 

Btw: As far as I know, for the chipset/BIOS there is no difference if it is a HDD or a SSD. 

Message Edited by clichtenberg on 05-Dec-2009 10:14 AM

[debilo]

If you really try it out please post the results here. I would'nt buy the best 1.8" but a medium good one. USB sticks and the SD card reader can't operate at full speed as the system is too slow. Maybe this is the case with an SSD as well.

P.S.: You didn't have to break any warranty seals when you opened it, did you? 

Message Edited by debilo on 05-Dec-2009 10:27 AM

[clichtenberg]

I don't have my SSD until now ...

But to answer your other question: No, there are no warranty seals. If you do everything carefully, no one will ever see it.  

[debilo]

I think - if it works at all - only an ATA SSD will fit. The controller in device manager says IDE ATA. Compared to SATA ones, the range of ATA 1.8 SSDs seems to be quite limited. Photofast is the main manufacturer of such drives.

[clichtenberg]

No. It's absolutely certain a SATA-Connector. The chipset only supports 1,5 Gb/s although the built-in Toshiba HDD has a full-speed 3,0 Gb/s interface.

On my picture you can see the microSATA-connector which (as the names says) belongs to SATA. And the HDD is a Toshiba MK1235GSL, which is a Serial-ATA-harddrive. 

[debilo]

I just opened mine as well. It really is as easy as clichtenberg said. You insert a credit card into the middle of slot at the display side of the keyboard and press it towards the display. Then the keyboard comes off. You then slide it a bit towards the display to release it completely. I wasn't able to unscrew the screws, though. The screws are very tiny Torx which I unfortunately don't have a screwdriver for.

[clichtenberg]

Oh yes - I forgot to mention that you will need a Torx T6. 

[selleugraj]

Great Information here!  I too will be waiting for a step-by-step, pictured how-to.  In the mean time, here are two options to consider...

Samsung Spinpoint N HS16VJF

Intel X18M