Inside Lenovo ThinkPad L490 – disassembly and upgrade options

LaptopMedia.com Highlights Inside Lenovo ThinkPad L490 - disassembly and upgrade options

From: Alex Iliev 27 November 2019 / 03:47 1

Here is one of the well-priced business machines on the market. It features a plastic, yet rigid body and dated design. On the other side, this machine is super industrial, and one should lower the expectations of the design, whatsoever.

Check out all Lenovo ThinkPad L490 prices and configurations in our Specs System or read more in our In-Depth review.

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Lenovo ThinkPad L490

Processor: Intel Core i5-8265U
VideoCard: Intel UHD Graphics 620
RAM: 8GB RAM
STORAGE: 256GB SSD

Detailed review

$1061^.00

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1. Remove the bottom plate

Similarly to other ThinkPads, the L490 has its screws attached on its bottom plate, even when you unscrew them, which is super neat for repair centers, or even at home. After you undo all of them, just pop the plate open with a plastic pry tool.

2. Battery

This device’s battery is held in place by three screws, which are marked by arrows on the 45Wh battery itself. If you want to change parts on the machine, it is crucial to remove the battery connector before you continue.

3. Memory and storage

Speaking of upgrades – you can fit up to 64GB of DDR4 memory (according to Lenovo) and it fits an M.2 PCIe x4 drive and a 2.5″ SATA drive. However, the catch is that the M.2 slot is embedded in the 2.5″ drive tray, which means you won’t be able to put an M.2 and a 2.5″ drive at the same time.

4. Cooling system

Cooling-wise, there is a single, yet long heat pipe, that leads the heat away from the CPU. It then makes a 90-degree turn around the fan, thus being able to exhaust the air from the side of the machine.