Split X2 hard disk and RAM upgrade

[hooraybeer]

Kevin,  you must not have read the previous posts on this forum.  We are talking about the hp split x 2 13-gxxxxx ulta book models not the hp split 13-mxxxxx models. thats the one you bought and customised.  If you bought the hp split x 2 13-gxxxxx  ultrabook and got it customised with 8gb of ram let me know i will give you mine.  Best Buy offers both models by the way. Its on hp for limiting the hp split x 2 ultrabook to the specs.

[Chris_SD]

Hey all.. I found the WD drive mentioned earlier..
500gb, 5400rpm for $250.. looks like it is in stock too

http://www.memory4less.com/m4l_itemdetail.aspx?itemid=1470039429&partno=WD5000MPCK-60AWHT0&rid=10

[johna2]

I have the Split X2 i3 version with 4GB RAM from Best Buy, like a lot of you I'm guessing, picked it up on Black Fridy for $500.

To answer the question "is 4GB of RAM enough", I can definitively say....no, not these days. I thought it would be, I had no plans to upgrade the RAM, but after using it for less than a week the RAM is maxed out with just a few apps and browser tabs open. By maxed out I mean memory usage stays at 98% which makes even opening an email slow. The CPU usage is at 5 - 10%.

I'm tech savvy but certainly don't understand the interworkings of CPU clock speed vs./and RAM, but seems to me 4GB RAM is very limiting. I just checked my desktop and it's using 5.3 GB of RAM right now, with Skype open, some browser tabs open, and SugarSync running in the background. So imo 4GB of RAM is pretty useless....if you don't hear back from me, the install of 8GB of RAM went well.

For reference, I'll be using this http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c03958968.pdf instruction manual to try and install this http://www.crucial.com/store/mpartspecs.aspx?mtbpoid=2DB223F4A5CA7304 module.

[hooraybeer]

for anyone intrested the 128sdd that the hp split x 2 comes with, is not able to upgrade.  So for the people like me that bought a model 13-gxxxx not only can you not upgrade the ram you are stuck with 70 gb of memory (128gb minus operating system and other stuff on the sdd out of the box).  Chris found a company that  sells the 500gb 5400rpm hdd with the sff8487, its only $250 the price of a sdd (no one will buy it) but yes we have the micro sd (64g) and a sd in the base also limited to 64gb.  My conclusion is this is a middle of the pack TABLET that that runs windows 8 and attaches to a keyboard dock for $900 not an ok laptop that is cool enough to detaches to a tablet. Hp is trying to call this an ultrabook what a joke...

[Chris_SD]

So you could not add the 256gb mSATA drive to the unit?? Could you not remove the 128gb drive from the mainboard? Is the drive soldered in... like the RAM is?

[hooraybeer]

im not buying a 500gb 5400rpm hard drive for 250 when i can buy a 500gb sdd for 300ish.  I was told by hp support the max capacity for the sdd is 128gb. they also said they could not put a standard sodimm ram, so the ram was embedded in the board cause the tablet is so thin.  Get this the 13-m010 model that has the standard sodimm ram is .01 inches thicker (what genius came up with that idea).  I don't know if you received yours yet but im slowly talking my wife into getting a real laptop and not keep this over priced tablet.

[Chris_SD]

Mine just shipped yesterday.. Hope to get it Sat or Mon..
I was looking at other machines too..I might just forget the "new laptop" thing (return it) and get a decent SSD for my current core2duo laptop.. save up more money for a Lenovo Yoga 13.. or something like that..

[hooraybeer]

that is what i want to get the lenovo yoga 13.  Best buy has it one for 799 is has 4g ram that is upgradable to 8 gb and a 128gb ssd.  

[macboat]

Hello everyone,

I have not yet experienced the performance issues that others have with the 4GB of RAM.  I or my sons have owned 5 laptops over the past three years with 4GB of RAM, 3 of which we are using now.  We rarely encounter performance issues.  I would guess that we don't have the same or similar usage requirements that others on this thread have.  And granted, more RAM is undoubtedly better.

I do not have any official figures but I would easily bet that 4GB, at this moment, is the most commonly configured RAM capacity in laptops sold today.  I suspect this meets the needs of the majority of users which is why it is probably the current standard.  Having said that, I certainly wish the RAM were upgradeable.

Regarding the 500GB HDD Chris_SD found at memory4less (thanks, Chris!), I called them to determine availabiity.  They said it would be available to ship in a few weeks.  I asked why the price was $250 when WD states the retail list price is $90.  They said it's because this particular model, with this specific suffix (WD5000MPCK-60AWHT0) is used for data recovery.  We had a discussion about this where I tried to determine why that would make a difference.  I was not successful.  However, the rep did say that I should order the model without the suffix.  He said that one would cost $90-$100 but that he had no idea when it would be in stock.

I did find the HDD at another location:  http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Whole-sale-Original-NEW-WD-2-5-SATA-WD5000MPCK-500gb-RPM-5400-Hard-Dr....  It sells for $146 with free shipping from China, guranteed to arrive within 39 days but potentially as soon as 19 days.  If that's too long, you can pay an extra $37 and get it between 7 and 11 days.  I contacted the seller and confirmed it was the correct drive.  As of a couple of days ago, there were 4 left in stock.  I plan to wait to see if any cheaper ones appear in the coming couple of months.

Finally, when I realized HP was selling the 13-gxxxxx model online where you could option it with the 500GB HDD, I reasoned HP must have these HDDs somewhere and if I could just discover where, I'd find a way to get one.  Without boring everyone with the sordid details, for nearly 2 hours I was on the phone or chat with HP Sales, Parts or Tech Support, speaking with multiple people, all indicating they did not know where these hard drives were sourced from within their company.  Please believe me when I say I used every logic tool in my toolbox to help them determine where these HDDs might be but no luck.  It was very frustrating because if the HDDs are sold as an option online, HP would have to have the drives inventoried somewhere.

I'll keep my eye on this thread to continue to learn about this computer and its various configurations.

[Chris_SD]

Jona2..  If the laptop has 4gb RAM, how is it using 5.3gb at the time you checked?

What program did you use to check RAM usage?