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    Switch HDD to SSD

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by Cloudfire, Aug 11, 2008.

  1. Cloudfire

    Cloudfire (Really odd person)

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    This may be a stupid question, but here it goes :)

    Is it possible to open the laptop up and remove the HDD and install a SSD instead? If so, how difficult is it?
     
    Cloudfire, Aug 11, 2008
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  2. Romanian

    Romanian Notebook Evangelist

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    I think so, as long as they have the same connectors/size format. It wouldn't be any different than upgrading to a larger size HDD. The easiness all depends upon how your notebook is built. Some have a small door to your HDD while some have you dig deep to reach it.
     
    Romanian, Aug 11, 2008
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  3. makaveli72

    makaveli72 Eat.My.Shorts

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    It is that easy...try looking through the sticky about SSDs in this forum, that Les wrote up. Basically once ur laptop/HDD has a Sata Interface it should work.
     
    makaveli72, Aug 11, 2008
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  4. Cloudfire

    Cloudfire (Really odd person)

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    Ok cool. Ive never open up a laptop before and are kinda scared i will destroy something, lol :)

    My drive will be "500 GB - Serial ATA-150 - 5400 rpm", but it is not a custom built laptop where i can choose my components, sadly. So i think i will purchase a SSD.

    Any cheap shop to recommend that sell SSD? Preferably between 64 GB and upwards.....
    Thanks ;)
     
    Cloudfire, Aug 11, 2008
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  5. Romanian

    Romanian Notebook Evangelist

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    I suppose Newegg or TigerDirect should have some SSDs, although "cheap" wouldn't be the right word for them. I think they're still pretty ****ed expensive; you could get a new low-end notebook for the price of an SSD.
     
    Romanian, Aug 11, 2008
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  6. Mr._Kubelwagen

    Mr._Kubelwagen More machine now than man

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    Are you sure that you're not looking at a 3.5" hard drive? " My drive will be 500 GB - Serial ATA-150 - 5400 rpm". Because as far as I know, there are only 2 500 GB laptop hard drives in existence, and one of them won't even fit into a standard 9.5mm bay.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jan 29, 2015
    Mr._Kubelwagen, Aug 11, 2008
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  7. Cloudfire

    Cloudfire (Really odd person)

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    Ok, i did find it kinda fishy too. I thought that maybe they did some error when they wrote the specs, like maybe it is 2 X 250 GB HDD?
    I really dont know though. The ram too seems strange too because all other sites ive checked have 800 Mhz ram, not 667 Mhz....

    Here is the site. Its Norwegian but i think you can understand it
    http://www.komplett.no/k/ki.aspx?sku=355472&view=detailed#ProductTabs
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jan 29, 2015
    Cloudfire, Aug 11, 2008
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  8. John Ratsey

    John Ratsey Moderately inquisitive Super Moderator

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    The Samsung HM500LI is a standard 9.5mm thick HDD.

    However, Tom's Hardware found it to the relatively power-hungry. Presumably a side-effect of squeezing 3 platters into where 2 normally fit.

    Anyway, I suggest you don't rush to install an SSD. There is a wide variation in their performance and the better ones tend to be more expensive. Read performance (particularly random read) is better than for a hard disk, but write performance is not so good.

    John
     
    John Ratsey, Aug 11, 2008
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  9. John Kotches

    John Kotches Notebook Evangelist

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    One should consider all of the factors, including read vs. write workloads. The more the workload skews towards reads, the greater the potential performance gains.

    It would be interesting to see some timed metrics of mixed read/write loads comparing SSDs with 5400 and 7200 RPM drives.

    Cheers,
     
    John Kotches, Aug 11, 2008
    #9