Don’t be scared! Buy a cheaper laptop and upgrade the storage yourself

Upgrading the storage on your laptop could be easier than you think

If your laptop has upgradable storage, the actual upgrade process will likely be easy — so easy that it may even surprise you. But it’s also possible that the manufacturer made the laptop nearly impossible to open, in which case upgrading will also be near impossible.

For laptops that aren’t designed with ease of service in mind, it might not be worth the effort. Even if you could get it open, the storage slots might be hidden under other components, requiring that you disassemble things further to even get at it. If the storage is soldered to the motherboard, you can’t realistically replace it at all. (In that case, there are other ways to add laptop storage.)

Checking your laptop’s upgradability

To determine how easy it is to upgrade your laptop’s storage, I recommend performing a web search for the name of your laptop plus “upgrade SSD” or “replace SSD.” You should find YouTube videos that give you a sense of what it takes to open it up and get inside. You could also look up your laptop’s official service manual, too.

What’s involved when replacing the storage on your laptop?

If your laptop supports storage upgrades, then all you have to do is buy an NVMe SSD that fits your laptop. Most laptops fit standard M.2 2280 (80mm long) SSDs, but more compact models may need a smaller M.2 2230 (30mm long) or M.2 2242 (42mm long) drive.

Be sure to get the right form factor for your laptop — you can find those details on the web or in your laptop’s service manual.

Also, don’t just buy any old SSD. If you cheap out on a low-end SSD, you’ll get low-end speeds. Many modern laptops now support PCIe Gen4 SSDs, which are faster than older PCIe Gen3 SSDs, so be sure to get a drive that takes advantage of it if your laptop supports it. (Check out PCWorld’s recommended PCIe Gen4 SSDs.)

Once you have the SSD, you’ll need to open your laptop. Depending on the laptop, it may just take a few screws… but there’s also a chance you’ll need a “spudger” to pry apart the laptop’s base from the plastic tabs that hold the laptop frame together.

Once you’re in, you just have to access the storage. On many laptops, that means unfastening a screw, pulling the existing SSD out, sliding your new SSD into the slot, and re-fastening the screw. (On some gaming laptops, business laptops, and otherwise modular laptops, you may even spot an empty second SSD slot. If you do, you can just add your SSD without removing the current one and use both at the same time!)

Lastly, with the new SSD in your laptop, make sure you take care of it. Avoid these mistakes that kill SSDs early!

Is buying cheaper and upgrading the storage really worth the effort?

Upgrading a laptop’s storage on your own is usually worth it, especially if you can find those lower-end models with less storage on sale. Many laptops have base models that are surprisingly inexpensive to snag budget-conscious shoppers, with notable price bumps for higher-end models that come pre-packaged with more storage and RAM.

This strategy works best when you can scoop up a base model laptop at a bargain. I mean, if it costs $100 to jump up from the 512GB model to the 1TB model and it costs $90 to buy a comparable SSD, then it isn’t worth the time to save a measly $10. But if the 512GB model is on sale for $400 off while the 1TB model sits at full price, then you’re suddenly looking at a $500 difference — a huge opportunity to save some cash.

Manufacturers often bundle laptop storage upgrades with more RAM and other niceties. That’s great, but it means you’re overpaying if you only want the extra storage capacity but don’t need the extra RAM.

You’ll have to run the numbers yourself. What’s the price of the laptop you’re looking at, how much more for the higher-end model with extra storage, and how much would an SSD upgrade cost?

Some gotchas to look out for

Aside from the unfortunate reality that not every laptop is realistically upgradable, there’s one other big gotcha to watch out for — if you end up replacing the SSD in whatever laptop you get, that SSD is going to be empty (i.e., you’ll need to install an operating system on it).

If you want to keep using the laptop as it was before, you’ll have to image the drive before you swap it out. That means creating a backup copy of the drive and all its files, then copying it all to the new SSD. Otherwise, you can swap the new-but-empty SSD into your laptop, then use something like a USB flash drive to install Windows or Linux.

It’s a little easier if you end up buying a laptop with multiple SSD slots. In that case, you can leave the main SSD (which has the operating system already installed on it) and simply install your new SSD into the other available SSD slot. This is the most ideal option.

One more thing to keep in mind: your laptop’s warranty. Your laptop manufacturer may void the warranty if you open up your laptop for any reason. This clause is more common on thin-and-light ultrabooks that aren’t designed to be opened, less common on gaming and business laptops that are meant to be upgraded and/or serviced. That said, if you break something while opening the laptop, that’s still on you.

Don’t “buy cheap and upgrade” if…

Buying a less expensive laptop and upgrading the storage yourself is often worth it, but here’s when you shouldn’t do it:

• If the laptop isn’t easily serviceable, then it’s just not possible.
• If the cost of bumping up storage capacity at the time of purchase is reasonable, then you may not save any money.
• If you aren’t prepared to image the existing drive or reinstall Windows from scratch, then you may not want to do it.
• If you don’t want to waste time upgrading the drive on your own, then it may be worth paying the premium at checkout.

In all other cases, if you’re comfortable opening up a laptop and if you’re willing to spend a few minutes doing the replacement yourself, then you can often save hundreds of dollars by buying the cheaper laptop model on sale and swapping out for (or plugging in) your own SSD.

I highly encourage you to give it a try — assuming the stars line up to make it feasible and worth the effort!

Further reading: Portable SSDs are great for more than just backups