[BobbyDylan]

I just bought a new Inspiron Mini 10 Nickelodium Edition from Sam's Club for $220. The specs are as follows:
1.6GHZ, 533MHz FSB, 512K L2 Cache
Dell wireless 1397 802.11g Half Mini Card
Intel Atom Processor N270
1GB DDR2
160GB 5400RPM Hard Drive
Windows XP Home Edition SP3
6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery

It doesn't have a Bluetooth module. Which one should I buy from eBay? Also, can I swap out the HD and replace it with a spare 500GB 7200 RPM drive?

Anything else I might want to upgrade or replace? I understand that the 1GB memory cannot be changed out to a 2GB version easily.

Thanks for any responses I get. BTW, I ordered yesterday, will arrive Friday. Real fast shipping.

Bobby

[rrfranczak3]

if you wanna install OSX 2gb is a must.....you could upgrade the wireless from a 1397 to a 1510 or 1520 giving you wireless 'n' capability but if you dont have a 'n' router you dont need it, also as far as the HD goes, some say that the 7200rpm drives give off more heat than the 5400rpm and are sometimes noisier, I have 640gb in mine but opted for the 5400rpm because of the potential heat issue, I am in the process of upgrading to a 750gb drive soon but also 5400rpm...the only real way to speed up the drive is to go to an SSD, I personally dont like them because I think they fail too often and are not really worth the money but thats your call..Good Luck

PS. you have a Mini 10v, you really should edit your signature to include your specs, it helps the people trying to answer your questioins if they can see your specs without having to ask..it saves a lot of useless back and forth banter before even getting to the issue at hand...

[BobbyDylan]

Thanks for the reply ans advice. I ordered a Bluetooth Module 2.1 from eBay and will try and shoehorn it in when it arrives. I wanted the 7200 RPM speed to use with video files and Photoshop. The 2GB was just a pipe dream.

[rrfranczak3]

photoshop should be the pipe dream because its pretty useless on these Minis...in other words it runs pretty slow....the 2gb would help but the 7200rpm drive will not..just heat things up more......sorry

[reflex]

To make sure everything's clear, the original Mini 10 (model 1010) was essentially stuck at 1GB of RAM. Your 10v (model 1011) can be upgraded to 2GB by replacing the stock module with a normal 2GB module. You just need to take the netbook apart. But I don't know how hard it is to access the 10v's RAM slot.

The hard drive can be upgraded to any standard 2.5" SATA drive. I expect a 7200rpm will be fine. Yes, it'll take more power and produce more heat than an otherwise equal 5400rpm drive, but I doubt it'll be enough of a difference to break anything. But I didn't engineer the 10v, so take my words with a grain of salt.

[rrfranczak3]

here is a link to the service manual on the 10v, from what I have read you need to dis-assemble pretty damn near the entire machine to get to the memory...but anyway here is the manual on how to do it....

Documentation

dont worry its a link direct to Dell

[lauriem04]

Here's a link to the guide explaining how to upgrade the RAM in the Mini 10v. As you can see from the pictures and video, it requires pretty extensive disassembly.

Upgrading the RAM in the Dell Mini 10v (with videos and guide)

[BobbyDylan]

Everyone tries to help, and I appreciate it, but for some of you, I don't have a 10v, just the 10 (Mini 1010). I currently have a eeepc running Mac OSX 10.5, so am familiar with tearing down a Netbook. As I said earlier, I know that installing the 2GB was not feasible, but it can be done with a daughterboard and some soldering - it's just beyond my current expertise. Thanks to everyone who offered to help.

[reflex]

I think you have a 10v:

If you have a N270 CPU or N280 CPU in a Dell Mini 10, then you have a Mini 10v. The old 10 (model 1010) has Z-series Atom CPUs, not N-series. The new Mini 10's (1012 and now 1018) have N400 series CPUs.

The 1010's video output is HDMI, the 10v's is VGA. Check your netbook.

I also think the Nick. Edition Minis were all 10v's (but I'm less sure about this).

[rrfranczak3]

yes I agree with Reflex...if you have the n270 chip you have a 10v, no doubt about it....why don't you just go to Dell website and put in your service tag it will tell you everything