How to install memory on Medion Akoya LS?

[scoot1212]

abbazaba,
just curious do you know why best buy stopped carrying this model?
thanks
scott

[.tom]

It wouldn't be a big surprise for me if they stopped carrying. Medion is in some financial troubles (as some papers wrote)

[Programmerman]

I purchased the Akoya LS when it was on-sale at BestBuy for $950. Overall, it suits my needs well:
- Beautiful Screen
- Very light
- Well equipped.
One thing I question is their sharing video RAM with the main memory. The video takes (up to) 32mb, so my new 1024MB is 998mb (or somethng.)

I chose it over the EX because it has a faster bus. I didnt need the DVD+RW

Like Tom Handheld, my immediate idea was to upgrade the HDD and memory. I had an 80gb to swap, and 1gb of RAM to swap for the 512mb. I'm using it for photoshop training, so I need the extra ram.

Ok - here's some high level instructions to upgrade. The hard drive was easier than the memory. Their help desk sux (they told me the memory was under the mother board - its not.) NOte that this will probably void the warantee, for what its worth.

To open the unit, the screws on the bottom front of the unit. The bottom doesnt come off - the wrist rest comes off. Be careful, the touch-pad is attached to the motherboard using a ribbon cable. I've detached and re-attached this with out problems when servicing.

Once you lift up the wrist rest, you'll see the hard drive on the right. The WiFi card is in the center, under the touchpad. It looks like a RAM type slot - but its not RAM, so you can leave it intact.

The memory is under the keyboard. The keyboard slides back and is also attached with a ribbon cable which can be easily re-attached. Under the keyboard is a square metal sheilding - there is one screw securing it to the motherboard. Remove that screw and you'll see the memory. Like most laptops there are two DIMM slots, and like most manufacturers, Medion populates both with the less expensive 256mb memory rather than a single 512mb DIMM - to upgrade, you need to replace the memory. The laptop uses 2700 speed memory which is pretty standard.

So, after upgrading, I'm relatively happy. One issue I have is that the wrist rest does not re-attach flush. Its partly due to poor design, and partly due to my sloppy work, no doubt.

Two issues I have with this machine:

1- Support is weak; The customer support people are clueless; there is no FAQ or knowledge base; there is no service manual.
2- The Laptop Lock is not usable because the battery is in the way. Multiple calls to support yeilded a verbal shrug. I'm a little dissapointed.

My next try will be to find a second hard drive bay that fits. Again, the medion support people said they dont have a part like that, but "Its a standard part" but they couldnt give me any standard reference. eBay seems to have parts for Dell and ThinkPad. I have a Dell, so I can try that part to see if it fits - after that, I may try the ThinkPad parts.

Good luck.

Thank you for the how-to on the RAM upgrade. When I did mine, the wristrest went back in flush, but parts of the keyboard are a little off.

[liquidskies]

ok so i have a medion ex, have had it for a long while and it worked great until this past weekend. My home keys (asdf & jkl; ) stopped working & all the other keys work fine, nothing has been spilled on it & i have cleaned it with a dust can and no luck. Was something disabled or anyone think of a solution? What can i do? (by the way, have resorted to use the on-screen keyboard! ) thanks!