e1705 - What kind of HDD do I need to buy for a after-market upgrade?

I just got my e1705 today and had previously purchased a Travelstar 60gb HDD @ 7200 RPM off NewEgg.... I'm very familiar with upgrading computer, but laptops is kinda a new thing for me... My question is simple

Why does the travelstar HDD that I bought have a different connector than the Dell e1705 HDD that came with the laptop? I pulle dit out and the connectors for the Dell HDD look something like a SD memory card or something. They are both SATA hard drives.

Any help here would be great. I guess I'm going to RMA the HDD unless theres some type of connector I can buy to make it compatible.

 

Could it be a "spreader" to make pluging in easier? I'm waiting for my 1705 so now going to download the repair manual from Dell. The specs say its supposed to be SATA.

 

Does your hard drive look like this ? One is power connecter and other data cable. What kind of connector do you have?

 

YEP!!!! That's the HDD currently in the e1705. The new HDD has male pins and I'm pretty possitive it won't connect to the same recepticol that the current Dell HDD is connecting to.

What do I need to do/buy?

EDIT: I just googled for a pic of what my HDD pins look like, and the connector looks like this: http://images.soliton.net/ibm/Dead Drives 03 Laptop Close.jpg


I also noticed you can buy adapters... Would there be any negative effect to using a HDD adapter or is it possible there is already one on the current HDD in my e1705??

Thanks a lot for the help!!!

 

did you remove the factory HD from the caddy and replace it with the new HD ?

 

Ah maybe this is where I'm goofing up... What exactly does "caddy" stand for and what is it?

All I did was unscrew the HDD, slip it out, and noticed there were no pins, like there are in the Travelstar I recieved. Is there something else I need to pull out or is there a piece on the Dell HDD that come soff that I need to attach to the new HDD?

EDIT: Heh just did some searching to see what a caddy was and apparently it's just the piece that is screwed onto the hard drive and then the caddy is screwed into place in the laptop... so it kinda just holds the hard drive. So yes, I took the caddy off and placed it on the new HDD. Like I said though, my problem is the difference in the connector.

The hard drive is the right size and fits fine, it just doesn't seem like it could be plugged in.

 

I think that drive can fit in a caddy and not in your lappy. Ive been searching and most of the drives with a 22 pin connector like yours are mounted in a caddy! like one of those 2.5" external caddy's. Ive also been looking for an adaptor but its been unsuccessful so far but if i do see it i'll let you know.
If it were mine I'd rma it and get one with the right connections 7 pin i believe.

cheers
doughy

 

That really lots like an IDE interface!

The Dell RM only shows the caddy not the back of the drive. Yep, the data pins on the SATA are 7 pin.

 

This is the drive I bought and have if this helps at all... I assumed it would fit in an e1705 since it's a popular laptop and this seems like one of the most popular HDD out there... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822146020

From what I read... it is an ATA-6 drive... Isn't this SATA??? Ugh I'm confused now lol.

 

Sigh.... I guess ATA-6 is completely different from SATA150.... Guess I'll be RMAing it.... Double sigh cuz they are out of SATA 7200RPM drives. UGH Frustration setting in... Should just upgraded the HDD when I ordered it from Dell.

EDIT: MMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm even MORE frustrating is Neweggs RMA page. I select allt he correct info and RMA for a refun and it keeps saying "Sorry! RMA Transaction could not be completed."

Wow getting frustrated now... Any of you usual Neweggers out there have a problem with this? I remember I had a problem with their RMA page a while back when I returned my desktop video card due to damage... the RMA crap is touchy. Help her eowuld be GREAT before I slice a wrist or something out of frustration! ^_^

 

It should lot like doughy's picture. Yours is an IDE 40 pin. The four on the right is for master , slave...stuff you don't have to worry about with the SATA.

Time to EBay

 

Sorry you got problems with newegg, im from the uk so i couldnt get stuff from there if i wanted to. Let us know how you get on.

cheers