G51vx-a1: Anybody know how hard it'll be to swap out the main harddrive?

In quest to configuring a G51, I was wondering how hard is it to order teh G51 with the standard harddrive, then replace it with a SSD harddrive like a OCZ 128GB Vertex? Will the drive just "swap"? Or do I need to buy special adapters or cables? Or maybe it won't fit?

I saw the Intel SSD that Xotic was selling and its specs are dog slow compaired to the new SSD that are out now.

And I tried a search for G51vx and harddrive replacement, but didn't get any hits.

 

Extremely easy, just like any other HDD swap.

 

This would be one sweet machine. Would the ssd use less battery power too?

 

SSDs do use less power. You'd be going from an hour of battery life to an hour and ten seconds of juice.

 

That's amazing ... actually maybe even more than 10sec because load times are shorter.

On second thought, maybe not more time, but better time spent not looking at loading bars.

 

Actually it depends on the SSD. Some use less power than others. I think in the beginning, the SSD was only slightly more faster than the HD counterparts. But it was less heat and no noise. Now the new drives are faster and better at saving power.

But jumping back to why I asked about this, SSD drives are alot quicker now.

The Intel X25-M (80GB and ~$260) is write 70MB/sec and read 250MB/sec. Which is ok. Not much in cache so people may complain of studdering when writing of smaller files.

The OCZ Vertex Series OCZSSD2 (120GB and `$369) is write 180MB/sec and read 250MB/sec, but comes with 64MB cache which, from what I read, removes those annoying studdering.

Both drives when fully used is about 2watts of power, and under .5watt when idling.

When compairing it to something like a 320GB WD 7200RPM drive, that uses 2.5watts when used and .85watt idling, you can still save some power. Not to mention WAY faster reading reading and writing times is about equal now.


So... again, nothing to worry about? just make sure I buy a 2.5in ssd and the laptop cables will just plug and play? No jumpers or adapters?
I remember my SZ-series Sony. Hardly any SSD fit in that sucker because of form factor.

UPDATE: After spending a few hours reading about the SSD. It seems its nowhere near as stable as a HD. Even from the best brands, 2-3% break. Vs 1% for a stable HD. Still... If you get one that works. Hard not to smile when bootup is COMPLETELY finished in about 30seconds when it's normally 1:30 before all the HD access stops. Which means he's seeing the Vista screen in about under 15 seconds.(compairing it to my friends home computer who has alot of stuff loading at startup)