Reasonably Priced HD Caddy?

I need a caddy for the second drive in my laptop which HP conveniently does not supply. How do I get one of these little pieces of metal an cellophane and the connector without paying the ridiculous price of $100+ bucks fro HP?

 

Well, HP may use proprietory caddies, that only fit in their notebooks.

Ebay maybe? Also, does your notebook use the 12.5mm drive height or the standard 9.5mm?

 

I have no idea. I just ordered the replacement Hd according to the number and it fit. Beside, this is the first one I've ever replaced so I have nothing to compare it to.

Incidentally, I should update may sig.

 

Take the hard drive out and measure it. I'm not sure whether the HDX series uses 9.5mm or 12.5mm. It may only be that the 20" HDX uses 12.5mm.

 

Oh I so don't think so, as I am far from the tinkering type. However, I do have the one I replaced it with, and it is indeed 9.5 cm!

 

Oh that's good then. Your search will be easier since it's the standard size.

And you aren't the tinkering type? It should be removable via a panel on the back. I've done it with mine several times, and it can be done in a matter of minutes.

 

I have been looking for a caddy for my dv7 so i googled "hp drive caddy" and this site came up: http://newmodeus.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2_5&products_id=213

Very good prices compared to HP.

 

eBay has tons of HD caddies for around $10, though I don't know if they have one for your specific model.

 

This thread has plenty of info on HDD caddies:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=388625

First post has the different options with links to sellers.

Working great for me... 14 usd got me a working caddy from ebay.

 

go with newmode.us . tons of people with hp laptops (incl myself) have bought our caddies from them. good quality, fast chipping and about half the price or even less when compared to the manufacturer.

i paid about $33 w/shipping+tax for my caddy.

 

LOL, maybe for you? Read my previous post about working on the computer with gorilla mitts!

 

newmondus is a good choice otherwise look on ebay for a HDX18t caddy...

 

Yep, that's it exactly! I guess I'll order that one. And the price is outstanding when compared to HP. Still, I wouldn't have mind getting a used $10 one, but at least this website offers a price I can live with.

There is copious amounts of good information on here. Thanks everyone.

p.s. I'm still a little perturbed when I think of the the price when compared to the cost of the HD itself. Corporate greed has run amok.

 

Imho newmodeus is a little pricey.
Your hesitation is understandable and perfectly reasonable.

eBay alternatives are working perfectly at half (or less) the price.
Just do your research and you will have a 2nd hdd caddy for a fraction of the official HP price.

 

Lol, I have fairly large hands, and I manage fine.

 

Just wanted to say that my caddy was sent out the same day I ordered it and I received it regular postage in 4 days! Unfortunately, the connection cable does not work and shut down my computer completely. I well notify the company tomorrow and see what they intend to do to remedy this situation.

 

Yea, I agree with everybody else for NewModes.US. Their products are good quality and their company is reliable.

 

you dont need to buy from newmodes. can get the same thing on ebay for te price of a bigmac meal maybe even supersized at mickey d's. i doubt you are getting the real hp caddies from them as they are all knockoffs if from other than ebay itself. if you give me a sheet a of aluminum and something to cut with i can make you one and charge you for it too.

 

Mr.KL,

lol, the 'something to cut it with' is probably something like a CNC machine which would require you to make several thousand copies to break even.

I agree with your sentiment, but the details is what makes one 'work' and another an 'also ran', not to mention a bad buy.

For me, eBay is for stuff I don't care about (if I get it or not, if it works or not, etc), not for things I'll depend on.

Cheers!

 

Anyway, I emailed them an told them to send me a working connector. We'll see what happens.

 

The process me a new connector the same day I emailed them about the defective one. When it arrives, I'll install it and let you all know how it turns out.

 

I am about to order my caddy from newmodeus but i will wait and see how your new cable turn out.

 

I couldn't wait ;-D so i ordered the caddy from newmodeus, $47 incl shipping, 6-10 days shipping time. Also ordered a Toshiba MK5055GSX 500GB hardrive (same as whats in my dv7 now).

 

Man you have no will power whatsoever. Anyway, I moved since I ordered it, so my connector will be delayed anyway.

Also, I think I'm going to wait and order the Hitachi 500GB SATA 2.5" 7200 rpm Laptop Hard Drive if I can find it. Otherwise, I'll get the Seagate Momentus 7200.4 500 GB 7200RPM, and just upgrade once and forget it.

I'm sure I can find other uses for my OEM 5400 Seagate like serving as a backup disc.

 

don't order the seagate... u'll regret it if ur'e unlucky... this momentus fails like hell... try finding a hitachi 7k500 or a western digital scorpio blue 500GB... but not seagate...

 

Well I did find the Scorpio blue at Amazon, but the Hitachi seems to be more elusive.

 

The Hitachi seems to be very popular at the moment, and thus tends to sell out rather quickly whenever a store has it in stock.

 

I did find this one: Western Digital 640 GB Scorpio Blue SATA Bulk/OEM Notebook Hard Drive WD6400BEVT. As far as I can tell it's a larger version so I think I'll get it. Unless someone has a reason it wouldn't be a good choice?

http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digit...1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1263808039&sr=1-1

 

these caddy's are way cheaper on eBay...

 

Why thanks partner, but it's not waaay cheaper (I paid $8 more). But it's good to have an alternative for future reference.

 

Seriosuly , anything other than 500GB is gonna be at 5400RPM... i would try finding the Hitachi on Frys and Newmegg... u should find it there...

 

Yes I did find it. But I'm not telling where until I order mine. I don't want someone pulling the inventory out from under me .

 

eBay has plent of them. I dont see why you need to oay $100+ or even $20 for a pice of alum and some screws. No body can see it either. Its like people who buy $100 underwear when Fruit of the Loom is fine. lol.

 

Don't worry.. i got no cash for hard drive upgrade and BTW get 2 of them and do RAID>.. should be awesome.

 

Well if it makes you feel better, know that the relative premium price you're paying (HP charges a whole lot more?) will net you excellent service. They sent out the replacement cable the same day they received my email (just like my original order) without question, and it's working fine with my OEM HD!

I'm not sure how I'll upgrade from here though? New Hitachi HD first, or RAM?

 

Krane,

Considering that you already have the Scorpio Black as your boot drive (I assume), then the RAM is your next logical upgrade.

The 'feel' of the system might even be worse with the higher capacity Hitachi than what you're now used to with the 'Black, even if it will be faster, overall.

As long as the RAM is going to be put to use - that is the most logical 'next' step.

Cheers!

 

I can't find much argument with that logic.

 

Neither do I. Shall we write a strong letter to HP?

So you figured you'd spend mine instead?

Anyway, I already have the original.

 

So what happened? You set us up and then dropped of the radar? Did you get the drive and install it? Is it working like you expected?

Mines up and running, but I'm still not sure if the 5400 OEM will be able to keep up. For now, I'll invest in RAM which I will absolutely us, and wait to see how well the stock HD performs before I worry about upgrading it. Either way, I still need an external drive for backup and reserver.

 

The caddy hasn't arrived yet but if i am lucky it might turn up this week or the beginning of next week. Shipping time from Santa Ana CA to Sweden was estimated to 2 weeks by USPS. Right now i am thinking about how to partition the drives and came up with the following plan:

0-50% of drive1: C:, Windows 7 and Essential Apps
0-50% of drive2: D:, Games and Apps
50-100% of drive1: E:, Storage
50-100% of drive2: F:, Backups

So the fastest parts of both drives will be used for os, games and apps and the slowest parts for storage and backups.

 

That sound like a good configuration as far as I can see. However, for me the partitions aren't nearly as important as the drive configuration. I have to use RAID 1 since my primary purpose will be video editing. But I'll have to wait for my other 7200 rpm drive for that set up. For now, I just have the OEM disc installed for backup and storage.

BTW, I neglected to read/relize you were in Sweden. I got my caddy the same week. I just hope they don't ship anymore defective connectors.

 

I don't think my dv7 supports raid but if it does i might try raid 0 with backup to my external usb-drive.

 

I got the caddy today. It works but not before fixing the connector cable. Since Krane had problems with his cable i inspected mine before mounting it and one of the small copper pins were loose in the smaller connector. I managed to push the pin back into the connector but if i hadn't noticed the pin would have bent or broke off when attaching it.

Right now i am enjoying 1TB storage .

 

so does ur Dv7 support RAID?

 

I couldn't find any raid settings anywhere (checked the bios twice) so i guess it doesn't support raid.

However everything is way snappier now. I partitioned the drives as this:

C: first half of drive1 - Windows 7
D: first half of drive2 - Games and apps
E: second half of drive1 - Virtual machines, pics and movies
F: second half of drive2 - Backups