sorry, I did not follow up with TS on this issue further
hard to diagnose what is the cause without access to his / her machine

Vostro 5470, i3-4010U + Intel HD4400 + 32GB mSATA + 500GB(5400rpm) + (1366x768;touch)@RM2149, 4GB, 500GB(5400rpm), W8, 3-cell
Do you mean this spec? This one already has a mSATA SSD in standard spec, should not have any problem to take in a full SSD (or you can swap a bigger mSATA SSD in and wade into UEFI to turn it from caching to storage).

don't know if TS was able to resolve the issue
I'm not sure how experience he / she is with laptop, whether he / she went into UEFI to change it to Boot from USB 1st (since he / she seems not to clone the HDD) and use USB boot disc in order to install OS (that should be done before he / she swapped out the HDD) ...
anyway, afaik, no laptop models have UEFI that "lock out" SSD (it's just normal SATA connection as far as UEFI / BIOS is concerned).

This post has been edited by nexus2238: Dec 4 2013, 12:40 AM

don't understand the comment
the issue could be slightly different. in that video (it's not very clear), that guy was able to get into BIOS (but I'm not sure whether it was before or after the SSD swap in), but TS claimed he / she could not get into BIOS at all

one hypothesis I had was the boot process was faster than TS was used to previously with HDD, and he / she did not press F2 quick enough, and boot hit the SSD, which was blank without OS, and stuck there

I understand you did not clone the HDD to SSD.
So before you take out the HDD, did you change the boot sequence in the BIOS, from HDD 1st to USB drive 1st?
If you do, then you can boot using an USB drive. Try that. (do you know how to make a USB boot disc?)
Now, swap the SSD with the HDD. Make sure the mode is AHCI and not IDE.
Now boot the laptop using the USB boot disc. Install OS on the SSD.

No BIOS in this world list "SSD", it's all HDD
Can you confirm you did not follow the step I suggest?
If you don't, how do you expect the laptop to behave after you just take out the HDD and swap in the SSD?

I did read you post
You mentioned you took out the HDD and put in the SSD, and after that you could not get into the BIOS.
My suggestion is that you change the BIOS boot sequence before you take out the HDD.
You don't need to be so stuck up, you know, I am just trying to help.
If you don't like it, fine by me. Take care.

This post has been edited by nexus2238: Dec 8 2013, 11:29 AM

that is issue with bad thermal paste
Make sure the inlet / outlet vent is clean. If you are really paranoid, re-apply the thermal paste once a year should be more than sufficient (use that opportunity to clean the fan inside as well).

read previous posts.
owner of 5460 had no problem swapping HDD out for SSD.

extended warranty from shop, not from brand directly. Usual caveat applied

the latest trend actually is same old lithium ion but in prismatic form factor. Can be packaged as thin as polymer, but cheaper

for caching.