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    Secondary HDD, HDD Caddy, and USB 3.0 Optical Drive

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by meyer0095, Mar 29, 2011.

  1. meyer0095

    meyer0095 Notebook Guru

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    I will be purchasing a Sager NP8150 shortly. I will most likely be buying from XoticPC. They offer to install a caddy for an additional $40. This additional to the cost of the Optical CD drive already. My guess is that a caddy does not cost $60+.

    What caddy would you recommend for a laptop optical drive? I have been having issues finding one on NewEgg.

    How difficult would it be to remove the already installed Optical Drive and replace it with the caddy, and than the secondary HD?

    I am looking for a USB 3.0 Optical Drive to use when I need to use an occasional CD. I have been unable to find a 3.0 on NewEgg, only 2.0s. Does anyone have one to recommend?

    For the secondary harddrive, I am getting a 120GB Intel 510 SSD as my primary. I will be storing the OS and frequently used applications on it. I will be using my secondary solely for data.

    From the stuff I've read, I think I am going for a WD Scorpio Blue 750gig. I am also considering the 1TB, but from what I've read it is slightly larger and may have difficulty fitting into the caddy. I am not going to use anywhere near 1TB, nor 750gigs anyway so its probably worth getting the 750gig. I have heard mixed reviews about the XT, and I don't think I will need it anyway with a primary SSD. What else would you recommend besides the Scorpio 750gig, or does that work?

    I greatly appreciate any help.
     
    meyer0095, Mar 29, 2011
    #1
  2. tilleroftheearth

    tilleroftheearth Wisdom listens quietly...

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    tilleroftheearth, Mar 29, 2011
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  3. Judicator

    Judicator Judged and found wanting.

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    As for your other question, unless it's a Blu-Ray optical drive, a USB 3.0 drive is largely unnecessary; regular DVDs and CDs don't really have high enough transfer rates to saturate a USB 2.0 connection. Even Blu-Ray will work adequately off a USB 2.0 connection.
     
    Judicator, Mar 30, 2011
    #3
  4. Thisisalamp

    Thisisalamp Notebook Deity

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    Taking out the DVD drive on the NP8150 isn't hard really.

    Open the primary hard drive compartment on the mid-bottom. Check to see if a grey rectangular piece is visible (it should have a screw in it). Unscrew this, then push this rectangular piece outwards; you'll be pushing the optical drive out of the laptop.

    I bought this one, and it works well with my NP8150. A 750GB 7200RPM Seagate Momentus lies within its belly, and fits well enough:
    2nd HDD Caddy for Clevo W860 / W860CU, also works with SSD [OBHD-SATA12-SATA-BU] - $44.75 : NewmodeUS, Hard Drive Caddys for Notebooks
     
    Thisisalamp, Mar 30, 2011
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  5. anseio

    anseio All ways are my ways.

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    Agreed. I watch bluray over USB 2.0 all the time with no problems. USB 3.0 for an optical drive seem superfluous since the bottleneck will be in the read speed of the ODD itself.
     
    anseio, Mar 31, 2011
    #5