Hoping to upgrade my Lenovo ideapad 3 internal SSD

1664kronenbourg

1664kronenbourg

1664kronenbourg

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I'm thinking of upgrading the internal SSD drive for a bigger one next year and I've seen the tutorials on Youtube but has anybody on here actually tried it themselves? I'd do it myself but I'm not technically minded and don't think I could trust myself.
Did who ever think of it ever see how big games are these days and how much disk space they take up and modsand DLC soon mount up. Just what were they thinking when they decided to give it just 250gig of internal SSD space?
 
Done it? no.

There seem to be tons of variants, but going by this one
https://www.notebookcheck.net/Lenov...ptop-with-mediocre-battery-life.483447.0.html
and their internal photo:
iBGiB4p.jpg
The machine is not the worst thing ever. The M.2 fitted in the review as only a 2242 but they said it takes 2280 too.
qe6Q6il.png
So the 80mm screw mount is there. Unsure if the 42mm one has to taken out to prevent shorts or to physically fit.

What I'd be more concerned about it opening it.

Surprisingly there is an actual article about opening it rather than yet another poorly put-together Youtube video:
https://laptopmedia.com/highlights/inside-lenovo-ideapad-3-15-disassembly-and-upgrade-options/
So again not that hard. Remove 10 screws, carefully prise the plastic away.

What is more interesting is that guide says there is space for a 2.5" SATA drive which NBC didn't mention even if the first photo hinted at it.

So if you don't want to clone drivers, etc, you might be able to for that. If going for the 2.5", these days I'd get a SATA M.2 drive and buy an adapter as 2.5" drives are to less useful in the future (you can always adapt a SATA M.2 to mimic a 2.5" drive but not the other way round!)

Although having said all that, the laptop might have space for a 2.5" drive but there is no sign of the power or data lead for one, so this may be Lenovo re-using the same chassis.
 
The lead to connect a 2.5 inch drive connects below the battery, it isn't supplied in the laptop unless a 2.5 inch drive is fitted from new.

The lead can be bought for a few pounds from some Chinese sites.
 
marms said:
The ideapad 3 service manual can be downloaded from
https://download.lenovo.com/consumer/mobiles_pub/ideapad3_hmm.pdf
If you post the exact model number of your laptop I'll check what cable you need.
Click to expand...

Thanks. But what I more worried about is rendering the computer unusable as I'm not technically minded despite having seen the videos on youtube (the professionals or youtubers doing it make it all look easy). I don't know the exact model number as all I know it's a Lenovo ideapad gaming laptop and don't know anybody who can do it for me or can talk me through it. The cheapest 1tb internal SSD drive I've found's eighty five quid but basically, I don't trust myself doing it myself.
 
marms said:
It would be easier to get a larger NVMe drive and an external enclosure and clone your existing drive to the new one then swap them over.
Click to expand...

But I don't think I could trust myself doing it on my own as I'm not technically minded and have not training and experience in such things and I don't have the hands of a brain surgeon and I don't know anybody who could do it for me or know anybody who could step in when neccesary and I might knacker the laptop.

^^^^^
That's what's making me nervous about it but will an external SSD drive fit the internal SSD drive space?
 
I don't think it would fit, it would be too thick, you'd also have to get the cable from it to the usb socket somehow.

Fitting a new NVMe drive would be easier than trying to fit an external drive in, the hardest part is getting the back off the laptop.
 
The people on Youtube that've done it make it all look easy but is it a job for a professional or can anybody do it?
I'm only a bit nervous about doing it myself as I went through a bit of disappointment (I had my heart set on the one I really wanted but didn't have a second option) a lot of actual physical pain (resulting in two ambulance visits to hospital an which tiurned out to be a waste of my time followed by having to go to a different one which yeilded the results I wanted considering the volunteer driver didn't turn up on the night I should have gone).
So can it be done at home by somebody with little experience (the most I've got is tightening the screw on a previous one and that's just a bout it) or does it need an experienced pro or somebody who knows what they're doing?

Another option is having it done by a shop but there's always the risk that it could be done by a cowboy who'll screw me over.
 
Started making enquiries about the possibility over having it done by someofy with experience and knows what thry're doing due to being nervous about doing it myself.

IF I have it done professionally, I'm going to use a repair centtre I've used before.
 
Decided to have it done professionally. It'll cost me a hunrded and eighty quid (all have to do is obtain the said drive and the installation of the said drived'll cost fourty five quid and another fourty five to have the OS insalled).
While it's being done i CAN GO and have a pint but nobody told me abou the OS having to be reinstalled in the videos on how to do it I've seen)
 
It does NOT need to be re-installed, just cloned from the existing drive which can be done before the transplant with the new drive in a USB enclosure. Should take about fifteen minutes.
 
If you install a 2.5 inch drive you won't want to reinstall windows on it as you'll also be keeping the NVMe drive which will be the boot drive. The new drive will appear in windows as a separate drive, you'll also need a cable to fit the 2.5 inch drive.
 
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