Second HD in Studio 17

Hi all.

Finally getting my Studio 17, and was wondering if it was possible after purchase to install a second HD after I get it?

Dell want $300 for a second 320GB HD, but I can get them for $150, so I'd rather just do it myself later.

Thanks,
Ryan

 

you can do it yourself

 

for sure man! go for it

 

I would guess, like earlier models with space for a second hard drive, that you will need to still get the mounting bits (caddy, interposer and screws). Unfortunately Dell only give you what you order

 

This is what I thought. With many notebooks that offer second hard disks, you have to purchase some addition items, otherwise the hard disk will fit, but it will have no way to communicate.

 

I can't give you a first hand answer (as mine hasn't arrived yet); but just for the record this is what I am doing as well as Dell did not offer a 7200 RPM drive option (which is something I want in what will be a dedicated development/media HD).

 

well Dell said I could do it, but I also noticed if i ordered the second HD I got additional cables etc. Not sure if they sell the required bits separately or if they're easy to obtain. I will definitely find out when the machine is here though!

 

Yup - if you order a second drive kit it will come with the bits you need but you'll pay a premium by getting it from Dell. Getting hold of the caddy and interposer seperately can be a little bit of a crapshoot. I had already built up a relationship with someone in Tech Support after a couple of screen replacements so played dumb and got the interposer and caddy sent out for free

 

oh joy. so Dell charge $300 to fit a second 320GB HD, and they're going to charge me $100 for the caddy and the HD is $150? That'd be right...

 

You called and asked to buy the extra caddy...and the said $100 ????

 

I've only ever seen the mounting kits adverstised sporadically on the US site and never on the UK site. Seem to remember the kit was $30 - $40.

 

Thats a very high cost. The kit normally costs much kess than that. As SteveJonesy said, they normally cost around $40, but certainly not $100.

 

I think he was thinking hypothetically - dont think thats been quoted to him.

 

yeah it was hypothetical... I'll wait and see in a months time I guess when I order. probably need a 9 cell battery by then too.

at least i know its possible! thanks!

 

Yay I love Dell.

"No you can't buy a HD caddy and cable separately, you have to buy it with the HD. That'll be $200 please"

Umm... no...

Is there a reputable Dell spare parts agent online I could get something like that from? I guess it'd have to be genuine Dell to avoid destroying my warranty?

 

Personally, I would rip the bottom of that thing open and look at the space in there . . . compare it to the stock HDD and see if I couldn't figure out that some additional hardware would actually be required.

THEN, I would go find me a nice 2.5 on newegg, and get the bits and pieces I needed there. If not, I know that there are a bunch of websites that sell used laptop parts online . . . you could get a caddy or whatever you need from there probably. Though you have a pretty new notebook, so that might be hard to find. Have any local stores that sell bits and pieces?

 

Well it hasn't turned up yet, but I am going to rip it open and have a look.

I have some computer places I buy cheap parts from, but not parts for Dells, hence the question about the parts. I'll get the HD, but figured I needed to get the necessary parts from Dell.

I'll check it out and see what I can work out!

 

That's the spirit! Its annoying how many places seem to try to gouge people on 'propetary' accessories when in most cases a hard drive is a hard drive and a sata cable is a sata cable. Just look at the external hard drive enclosures . . . they are nothing but aluminum boxes with ide / sata to usb adapters most of them. But they would have you believe that they were developed by NASA and that they re-invented the Hard Drive when they usually just take some off-the-shelf part and stick it in there.

 

bigkevracer: Did you find out if any additional mounting parts was required for a second hard drive?

 

You need to purchase the second hard drive caddy/adapter from Dell

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/...=19&sku=341-7101&mfgpid=197353&chassisid=8526

Manufacturer Part# : W021D | Dell Part# : 341-7101

$11, not bad, but still would have rather had it included with the Laptop...or at least by request.

 

Anyone have a photo of the Studio 17 Caddy. I'm wondering if it's the same as this one....

http://newmodeus.com/shop/index.php?main_page=page&id=6&chapter=0

...

 

The one gt3 posted is not the same.

http://newmodeus.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2_3&products_id=187

This is the one for the Studio 17.

Regards,

Richard

 

oh hell no... not $26 when Dell has it for $17 ish...

 

Exactly, why in the world would you post a link to an item that is more expensive than the one from Dell? I got mine from Dell is 1 day via DHL. I don't know why anybody else would even try to find it somewhere else. $11 or so isn't that much.

 

Is the interposer already inside for 2nd HD and all you need is the caddy???

lmk

 

when you order the caddy, you get all the necessary parts to install and connect the HDD to the MB

 

thanks for the reply. I ordered the caddy and all I got IS the caddy. nothing else. no screws, nothing. lmk if someone got something different.

It looks like I need to order the interposer for it as well which is another $18 buxs shipped and taxes.

 

you need to contact dell.
i received everything that i needed to slap in a new hdd.

 

Well I have recived my item from the company and it has all the parts needed to install a second hdd.

As i am outside of the US and dell would not send the part from the US Newmodus was my only option.

Regards,

Rm_knight

 

I myself just got my caddy (along with all essential parts) today in the mail from Dell Canada. Surprisingly, the small package was shoved in my mailbox.

To the point, I put in a 320GB hard drive, and it works great. A bit of a tight fit for the caddy in the 2nd hard drive bay, but it's fine. At first Dell said my order was delayed and it would take longer than usual to be delivered (they estimated it would arrive on the 18th), but for some reason I got it today, 4 days ahead of their estimate. I'm not complaining, though.

 

Could someone give me the exact model number of the 320gb hard drive that shipped with their Studio 1735? I haven't received mine yet but would like to get a second 320gb on the way and would like them to be exactly the same model. Its the 320gb Samsung 5400rpm. Anyone have the model number on that?

Also I guess I will go ahead and order the $11 caddy. I assume I will get everything I need other than the HD.

 

What if I were to get this one as my second hard drive:

Western Digital Notebook 320GB
Western Digital Scorpio Black WD3200BEKT 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Notebook Hard Drive

1. Is this compatible with the Studio 1735?
2. Assuming that it is a faster HD couldn't I just clone the original using Acronis True Image to the new drive and use this new one as the primary and then format the second to use for backup/storage?
3. What other options would you guys suggest? I have no desire to use is as a mirror drive. I know this much. I would like to use it as an internal source to clone image to periodically but once I outgrow the first drive(currently have approx 150gb of data) then I can start using them in some sort of RAID configuration and backup to an external at that point. any thoughts?

Any thoughts?