How easy is it to change the Optimus II's components post-purchase?

[HandmadeTurnip]

I'm thinking of ordering the 17'' Optimus II (spec below) but I don't really want to shell out the extra money for things like an SSD or better graphics card right away. I'd rather see how I get on with my current components first and then perhaps upgrade some things myself later on. Bearing in mind that I'm not particularly skilled or knowledgeable when it comes to this sort of thing, should it be relatively easy to add an extra hard drive or replace the graphics card etc.?

And on a separate topic, is the dead pixel guarantee worth doing? I've already opted for the silver warranty.


Chassis & Display
Optimus II: 17.3" Glossy Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-2670QM (2.20GHz) 6MB
Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG 1333MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (2 x 4GB)
Graphics Card
nVIDIA® GeForce® GT 540M - 1GB DDR3 Video RAM - DirectX® 11
Memory - Hard Disk
500GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD5000BPKT, SATA 3 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
SONY BD-5730S 6x BLURAY WRITER & CYBERLINK SOFTWARE (£79)
Memory Card Reader
Internal 9 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD: Mini, XC & HC/MS: Pro & Duo)
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N CARD INC. BLUETOOTH 3.0
USB Options
2 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS AS STANDARD
Battery
Optimus Series 6 Cell Lithium-ION Battery (48.84WH)


Price: £838.00 including VAT and delivery.

 

[PCS]

Welcome to our forums

Subjectively speaking, changing the CPU, RAM, hard drive and optical drive is straight forward, providing you're confident in what you're doing. It's just a matter of pulling a part a few jigsaw pieces and then correctly putting them back together. We do not recommend you start pulling your laptop apart and we recommend you read our Terms and FAQs prior to doing this.

The graphics card cannot be replaced as it's soldered down onto the motherboard. The only chassis that support interchangeable graphics cards are the Vortex II and Viper III series.