Help choosing flash memory to add HD space

Hi,
First, sorry I am way out of date and don't know my way around flash memory. I basically want to add 16-32GB of HD space to my laptop (thinkpad t61 889502u running XP) for music. It does not need to be especially fast, i presume, esp. for writing. My only condition are that I would like the card and card reader not to stick out, but to be flush with the side of my laptop. Other than that, I just need something cheap and reliable. Perhaps out of ignorance, I don't have a preference for one type of memory card over another. My computer has an Express Card slot. I would appreciate if somebody could just point me to an easy and relatively cheap solution.
thanks

 

you really should research the life expectancy of certain kinds of flash media before going down this road......

If you think that SSDs with their overprovisioning and fancy controllers leave a bit to be desired, try looking at what CF and SD cards have for read/write cycles.

 

The specification list on that model number shows 100GB in a couple places, so I'm assuming that's what you have. (Sidenote: I'm impressed you actually know more than just "T61".)

Cheapest reasonable option is to get a new hard drive, clone the old one onto it, and go nuts with the extra space. You can buy 500GB for $60, or 320GB for $50 at any brick and mortar store. You can go even cheaper online. By comparison, a 32GB flash drive will cost around $45-50, minimum, and be as slow as USB is.

Express card options are expensive, flash drives stick out, and any card reader system will easily cost more than replacing the hard drive.

 

Either I am mistaken or this is a pretty old model that use cardbus rather than express card.

I would just grab a bunch of 8G SDHC(which your machine seems to have a read for) and switch them. Otherwise, grab a cardbus based flash adaptor and buy a reasonably priced CF. both options won't stick out of the machine.

 

thanks to all for your responses.

first off, sorry again, i thought all these SD and CF cards counted as "flash". Now I know what my dad feels like when he asks me for help with his computer.

woofer00: yes 100GB is right. (and yes, i do know more than t61! just a few years out of date!). the reason i dont want to replace the HD now is that i am still under warranty for 15 months or so.

chimpanzee: yes an old model indeed, but i am glad i got it. one of the last mainstream laptops with a 4:3 screen. according to the specs here Lenovo ThinkPad T61 8895 Notebook ( 889502U ) - Intel Core 2 Duo Notebook - Lenovo Notebook it has both cardbus and express slots (or did i get that wrong?). If SDHC will work w/o adapter is there any reason i cannot get 16GB rather than 8?

thanks again.

 

that page is hard to read, it may be better to confirm via device manager. As for 16GB SDHC vs 8GB ? shouldn't matter. get the one that fits your price budget. SDHC seems to be the cheapest for this purpose.

BTW, there seems to be 32GB as well.

 

hi, thanks chimpanzee.
in device manager all i find is the following entry under PCMCIA Adapters:
Ricoh R/RL/5C476(II) or Compatible Cardbus Controller.

I do not, as far as I can tell, have the 4in1 card reader on some (widescreen) t61 models.

 

that means you don't have express card.

You have cardbus and SDHC reader. So if you are not comfortable with changing HDD, an SDHC(whatever size) should work. If you want to use CF, you would need a cardbus adaptor, not express card one. I would say go with an SDHC 16/32GB, they are pretty cheap. These are the same thing used by smart phones(well those are the micro version) so is intended to be used for similar purpose.

 

Indrek: thanks, I did not see your post earlier. This might be the best option, though I fear I will run into problems. Poking around tells me that Acronis and Paragon Partition Manager are a good way to go ... anyway, separate thread I guess.
Chimpanzee: I am having doubts about whether I can read SDHC w/o an adapter. I just have the two large card slots on the left side of my computer and nothing like an SD slot on the right. It looks just like this (left)
http://www.notebookreview.com/assets/27426.jpg
and this (right)
http://www.notebookreview.com/assets/27430.jpg.
Of the two large slots on the left side, one has a dot on the eject button, one has an "X". And when I use "System Information for Windows" I do find that "system slot 1" is an expresscard slot.
Thanks