Swapping optical for battery on X300: you’ll need a screwdriver
If you’re planning to take advantage of the Lenovo X300’s swappable bay, make sure you have a screwdriver handy. That’s the magic tool needed in order to release the optical drive or battery from the bay in case you want to switch modules. The procedure is quick, painless and easy as shown the Lenovo folks in the video above. Simply flip your X300 over, undo and remove a single screw, and then use the screwdriver to release the optical drive or battery inside. Once you swap, you just need to replace the screw… and put your screwdriver in a safe place so you don’t lose it for the next swap.Although easy to do with a tool, it’s a shame that some button or latch mechansim couldn’t have worked in this case. The more you have to carry, the less mobile you become and isn’t mobility the point of the X300 to begin with? Not a major issue, but for perspective buyers that plan to take advantage of the optical drive and 3-cell battery option, this is good info to have.(via Small Laptops and Notebooks)
That’s strange, my Fuji Lifebook just has a latch – flip it out and the drive/battery in place pops out and you can swap between the two to your hearts content.
A screwdriver? No thanks…
I fail to understand why a more elegant solution could not be implemented.
“…it’s a shame that some button or latch mechanism couldn’t have worked in this case.”
Oh, I dunno. I used to have a Dell Inspiron with a latch-locking battery that that had the plastic latch fail causing me no end of troubles until I sent the entire laptop back to Dell for a fix (Duck tape only goes so far). Slide it in an screw it down, I say.
My dell D600 has a screw to hold in the optical drive. But it’s not needed. I took it out several years ago and haven’t had any issues. I was told it was for security. Do you have to put it back in on the X300
Seems like a really big deal to me. Having screwdriver in your carry on luggage is not an option – at least in the countires I travel in. A huge desigm flaw I would say.
Makes me wonder: if their design engineers made such an obvious usability mistake here, what else did they get wrong? Requiring a screwdriver tells me they think you will only swap very infrequently. Or maybe they just weren’t bright enough to come up with a rugged alternative.