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Latitude 3480 questions and upgrades
I've just got a latitude 3480 with an i5 7200u service tag# , and would like to squeeze as many upgrades into it as possible. I also have a few questions
- My laptop came with Ubuntu, I have a windows key. Can I dual boot it? Do I get Canonical Ubuntu? From doing some research, Dell seems to have optimized the version of Ubuntu it came with. How do I dual boot that? Are there even any meaningful differences between the two? Can I 'recover' to an SD card if I use the downloadable .iso?
- In the Bios, it mentions SATA 0 and SATA 1. Is there any way to shove another 2.5" drive in there?
- It seems to be a version without a WWAN card pre-installed. Can I drop in a WWAN card and get it that way? There's a slot for it. Where does the SIM card go? Is there a place for the SIM card on the motherboard? Do I have to buy anything else? I see from the 3480 manual that some versions have WWAN support.
- Is there a backlit keyboard I can swap for?
- When I go and try to get a replacement battery from the support page it tells me that the battery is no longer offered. However, when I go through acessories.dell.com, there's batteries available. I can even add them to cart. So can I buy a battery or not?
Thank you, if you answer even one question I will be very grateful.
ejn63
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July 22nd, 2017 06:00
If it's WIndows 10, you can dual boot. Because this is a Kaby Lake system, there is no support for anything older than Windows 10 (installing 7 may be possible but it won't update thereafter).
There is no way to install two 2.5" drives. On a low-end model like this one, it's unlikely there's a socket for a card type drive (M.2),either.
If the system shipped without a WWAN card, there will not be an antenna inside - and installing one after the fact will be difficult if not impossible.
There is a backlit keyboard option - that said, on a lot of newer systems, the keyboard is an integral part of the pamrest assembly -- the entire assembly has to be replaced on most of them, meaning it won't be a $20-30 part to replace - probably more like $100 or so.
If the battery shows avaialble, there's no reason you cannot order one.
ThaGoodGuy
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July 25th, 2017 15:00
Thank you so much! I've got another question though; In the manual it states that I have these hard drive options:
128GB M.2 2280 SSD (via carrier)
256GB M.2 2280 SSD (via carrier)
64GB M.2 2242 SSD (via carrier)
2.5" 500GB 7200 RPM HDD (7mm)
2.5" 1TB 5400 RPM HDD (7mm)
2.5" 500GB Hybrid 8GB (7mm)
32GB M.2 2242 SSD (in WWAN slot)
Dell Fast Response Free Fall Sensor and HDD Isolation (standard feature)
www.dell.com/.../hard-drive-options
What is a carrier? Is it just an adapter for the M.2 to fit into the 2.5" slot?
Also, it say that the WWAN slot can fit a 32 GB M.2 SSD. Any idea what interface it uses or if I can shove something higher capacity in there?
Thank you!
ejn63
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July 26th, 2017 04:00
Yes, the carrier adapts the 2.5" bay for an M.2 drive.
The size of the card supported in the WWAN slot (42 mm) is going to severely limit its usefulness - about the only thing a 32 G drive is good for is as a cache for the main drive - it's too low in capacity to use as an OS drive (even most LInux distributions now require more space than that unless you're doing a bare-bones command-line only install).