Can you upgrade the RAM in the Lenovo IdeaPad S940?

What are your RAM options with a Lenovo IdeaPad S940?

When it comes to RAM for the Lenovo IdeaPad S940, there's not much flexibility at all. You can only choose between 8GB and 16GB of DDR3 RAM when choosing a configuration to purchase. The RAM is also soldered onto the computer, which means that you won't be able to upgrade the RAM yourself.

Luckily, 16GB is a great amount of RAM for a business-friendly laptop like the Lenovo IdeaPad S940, but people who still want more are unfortunately going to be disappointed.

Why you should still get the Lenovo IdeaPad S940

While the limited RAM options and flexibility are disappointing, there are still plenty of reasons that you should pick up a Lenovo IdeaPad S940. The biggest one is the gorgeous 4K display that you can get with it; it has stellar color accuracy and a fantastic 500 nits of brightness. This makes for an incredibly crisp and vibrant screen that will make all images and video look extraordinary. If you're not interested in 4K, you can get a standard HD 1080p display in order to save some money.

In addition to the killer display, the laptop can also be configured with up to an Intel UHD 620 graphics card and an Intel Core i7-8565U processor, which is plenty of power for performing work tasks and browsing the web. You can also get it with up to 1TB of solid-state hard drive space, so you'll have plenty of storage room. Lastly, the device has incredibly thin bezels and is quite thin at just under half-an-inch thick, and it only weighs 2.6 pounds, too, making it a breeze to take with you on the go.

If you want upgradeable RAM

If your heart is set on getting something with upgradeable RAM, than we recommend checking out the Dell XPS 15. It's got a wider range of hardware configurations than the Lenovo IdeaPad S940. While this means its lowest spec model is weaker than the weakest IdeaPad S940, its highest spec option is more powerful than the strongest IdeaPad S940. As you'd expect, this means that you can either pay less, more, or about the same amount of money as you would choosing a Lenovo IdeaPad S940 depending on what you opt for.

The best you can get with the Dell XPS 15 is an NVIDIA GTX 1650 graphics card and an Intel Core i9-9980HK processor, which firmly puts this configuration into the power range where gaming is possible. You can configure the laptop with anywhere between 8GB–32GB of DDR4 RAM, and you can personally upgrade the RAM up to 32GB yourself if you buy less RAM to start with and decide to add more later. Finally, you can get the Dell XPS 15 with up to 2TB of solid-state drive (SSD) space.

You can get the Dell XPS 15 with a 4K display too, but it's not as good as the Lenovo IdeaPad S940's because it isn't as bright. It still looks great, and like with the IdeaPad S940, you can opt for a regular HD screen if you don't care about 4K. The laptop is about a half-inch thick, which puts it at the same thinness as the Lenovo IdeaPad S940. However, it weighs 4.6 pounds, which is almost twice as heavy as the IdeaPad S940. This means that it will be more cumbersome to travel with.

Overall, the Dell XPS 15 is a great alternative option if you want upgradeable RAM, and it offers a wider range of configurations to choose from, albeit at the cost of a worse 4K display and a higher weight.