#1 2015-10-26 05:02:05

JasonMehmel

Member

Registered: 2015-10-06

Posts: 186

Trying to shed laptop weight

So, I've got this nice Lenovo laptop... but it's heavy.

I'd love to get something lighter, but I love the Lenovo form-factor, and they just don't make that style any more.

So I'm wondering about just going in there and swapping out different parts to try to bring the weight down.

My current theory is that the hard drive might weigh a bunch, so if I swap that for an SSD, I'll probably get a weight loss and speed boost, with a loss of storage space.

Any opinions on my theory?

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ThinkPad T15 Gen 2i

Bearded_Blunder

Dodging A Bullet

From: Seat: seat0; vc7

Registered: 2015-09-29

Posts: 1,146

Re: Trying to shed laptop weight

The weight is likely to be elsewhere, 2.5" drives don't weigh much, I suspect the real culprit is "robust construction"

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ohnonot

...again

Registered: 2015-09-29

Posts: 5,592

Re: Trying to shed laptop weight

totally agree with bearded blunder.
the only thing that even remotely matters, that you can influence, is the cd/dvd drive (if any).
you can just pull it out, releasing 1 screw first. at least that's how it usually works.
even so, the difference won't be that large.

when you say "they just don't make that style any more", do you mean your laptop is matured?
that's another factor.
in recent years, the industry's been busy making mobile computing lighter.

but i agree, old lenovos are good, the new ones are just the same crap as everything else.

Last edited by ohnonot (2015-10-26 07:03:03)

pvsage

Internal Affairs

Registered: 2015-09-29

Posts: 1,433

Re: Trying to shed laptop weight

A huge chunk of a laptop's weight is in the battery.  Get rid of that, though, and it becomes a desktop.

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JasonMehmel

Member

Registered: 2015-10-06

Posts: 186

Re: Trying to shed laptop weight

Thanks everyone. The consensus seems to be that I'll basically have to get a different machine to get any appreciable difference in weight.

Some interesting ideas, though, including removing the battery (which means I'll need to plug in wherever I am) and removing the optical drive... something to consider!

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Fortune favours the bold.
ThinkPad T15 Gen 2i

KrunchTime

Member

Registered: 2015-09-29

Posts: 857

Re: Trying to shed laptop weight

I bought an ASUS Zenbook UX303LA in January.  It's thin and light as a feather.  I love the laptop, although I don't know if you can still purchase them as a newer model came out.  I maxed out the memory and installed a bigger SSD drive.  The laptop came with a 120+GB SSD drive; much too small for my tastes/needs.  I wanted more RAM so that I can reliably run Windows 8 in a VM.

20151109-01 edit:  ASUS touchpads leave a lot to be desired, though.  I've owned 3 ASUS laptops and the touchpads on all 3 weren't that good.  Also, touchpads in general under Linux are annoying to use because your hand invariably brushes against it while typing causing untold frustration.

Last edited by KrunchTime (2015-11-10 01:01:40)

Temetka

Member

From: Sol System, Western Spiral Arm

Registered: 2015-10-14

Posts: 549

Re: Trying to shed laptop weight

What model of Lenovo lapop do you have OP?

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JasonMehmel

Member

Registered: 2015-10-06

Posts: 186

Re: Trying to shed laptop weight

What model of Lenovo lapop do you have OP?

Sorry for the delay! It's a T410 ThinkPad

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Fortune favours the bold.
ThinkPad T15 Gen 2i

JohnTheCuriousEye

Member

Registered: 2015-12-13

Posts: 12

Re: Trying to shed laptop weight

What model of Lenovo lapop do you have OP?

Sorry for the delay! It's a T410 ThinkPad

Is it just me or does this laptop look like weightless on the pictures ? I have had one of those ThinkPads with a screen which you can turn around and all that cool stuff in my hands and it wasn't that heavy tho. If you try my laptop you would know what word "weight" mean.

ohnonot

...again

Registered: 2015-09-29

Posts: 5,592

Re: Trying to shed laptop weight

Is it just me or does this laptop look like weightless on the pictures ? I have had one of those ThinkPads with a screen which you can turn around and all that cool stuff in my hands and it wasn't that heavy tho.

i think i know the model(s) you are talking about, but this looks like one of the good thinkpads, before they went to the dogs, and they are heavy.