88 PCWorld JUNE 2020FEATURE IS UPGRADING A LAPTOP’S SSD & RAM WORTH IT?
Dell’s website and download the Dell OS
Recovery Tool, then put it on a 16GB USB
stick. Plug this drive in when you boot the
machine for the first time, and you’ll be
walked through Dell’s custom Windows 10
installation. An OEM Windows installer
will not work.
Once you’re done mucking around
inside, lay the bottom panel back on the
laptop’s guts—checking the orientation, of
course. Secure the captive screws first, then
press the keyboard layer and bottom panel
back together. The area around the trackpad
is tricky, and you may need to use your
spudger to wedge the whole thing apart
and try again. You’ll probably need to push
harder than you think for everything to snap
into place.
Once that’s done, find your coffee cup of
screws and replace them as well. Assuming
you didn’t replace the OS drive, Dell will run a
quick check on your memory to make sure
everything looks good.
It’s (at least in my experience) pretty hard
to seat RAM improperly in a laptop and still
get it to close, so barring a malfunctioning
stick you should be good to go.THOUGHTS AND
BENCHMARKS
So...should you do it? Is it worth it?
Upgrading the Inspiron 15 7000 was
easier than I anticipated. No special tools
(except a guitar pick), no hidden tricks. It’s notRemove the default M.2 2230 form factor drive.Next, look for this metal clip that’s in the “2230”
position......turn it around and reinsert it at the 2280
position for most off-the-shelf M.2 drives.