I am going to buy a laptop and was wondering what degree of freedom I get with upgrading parts inside it (such as RAM, hard drive, graphics card, CPU, etc). A list of things that are changeable and a level of difficulty (one to ten?) to change it would be helpful. If it helps I will probably be getting a Lenovo G550 - 29584PM, but I would prefer an answer that gives a general look on laptops because I could easily change my mind on the exact one. Thanks a lot.
What is the flexibility of changing laptop parts?
RAM is usually pretty easy in most laptops
Hard drives are usually pretty easy to change as well
CPUs require quite a bit of work, but can be changed in most full-sized laptops
Graphics cards are not upgradeable 98% of the time
Hope this helps :)
What is the flexibility of changing laptop parts?
You can't change the graphics card!
Super limited. Most likely you won't be able to change anything. Laptops are made to be as compact as possible, so the parts are unique, not inter-changeable.
Review the specs for the laptop you are interested in. Upgrades are normally limited to ram, hard drive, and maybe battery. Graphics are normally built into the motherboard. Sometimes a CPU can be upgraded, but not enough to really make a difference.
