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    Using portable HDD in Lenovo T60

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by Laursen, Aug 20, 2008.

  1. Laursen

    Laursen Notebook Consultant

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    I've just got a 500 GB portable HDD from Verbatim, I believe the HDD manufacture is Samsung.

    I only have 100 GB in my Lenovo T60 and was wondering if it's possible to take apart the Verbatim and swap the HDD out with the original 100 GB.

    Both HDD's spin at 5400 RPM but I'm not sure about the interface. The original 100 GB is SATA but I'm not sure about the Verbatim (Samsung).

    But is it possible to do ? Or do portable hard drives not come apart without destroying the HDD ?

    Regards,
    Jakob Laursen
     
    Laursen, Aug 20, 2008
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  2. Phil

    Phil Retired

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    They're both SATA so that's not a problem. Taking apart an enclosure is usually not a problem either. I just don't know if the T60 BIOS will recognize a 500GB drive.

    On a side note, the 500GB has 10-25% higher power consumption than average and slow acces times of 19ms. I'm not sure you'll be happy with the 'upgrade'. Here's a review by Tomshardware.
     
    Phil, Aug 20, 2008
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  3. Andy

    Andy Notebook Prophet

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    Yeah, the Samsung gets beaten down when it comes to power consumption, but if the Samsung is compatible, you'll notice a nice boost in performance.
     
    Andy, Aug 20, 2008
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  4. Phil

    Phil Retired

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    While the transfer rates of the Samsung in synthetic benchmarks are very high, a 19ms acces time has it's impact on performance too.

    As you can see in these benchmarks, the Samsung 500GB performs similar to a Seagate 7200.2 100GB in real life: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...d,1960-10.html
     
    Phil, Aug 20, 2008
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  5. Laursen

    Laursen Notebook Consultant

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    Power consumption is not really an issue (disregarding the environmental issues) as I've rarely use my T60 on battery.

    Are there better alternatives than the Samsung HDD ? I would like something of at least 250GB and fastest possible...

    I could try to install the new drive and see if I can feel any difference in performance, if not I could just go back to my 100 GB until I find a better solution...
     
    Laursen, Aug 20, 2008
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  6. JMrenraV

    JMrenraV Notebook Enthusiast

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    correct me if im wrong, but isnt the largest laptop hard drive 320gb? the external 500gb you may be talking about is prob a desktop drive and will not work in a t60 laptop

    *nevermind, learned something new. 500gb notebook harddrive, nice ;)
     
    JMrenraV, Aug 20, 2008
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  7. Andy

    Andy Notebook Prophet

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    Notebook 500gig HDDs - Samsung HM500LI SpinPoint M6, and the Hitachi Travelstar 5K500 (12.5mm)
     
    Andy, Aug 20, 2008
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  8. The Fire Snake

    The Fire Snake Notebook Virtuoso

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    What about the size of this external harddrive? Is it 2.5"? I would check that out first.
     
    The Fire Snake, Aug 20, 2008
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  9. Phil

    Phil Retired

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    He said it was portable so I took that as being 2.5".
    Good idea. Try it and see if you like it.
     
    Phil, Aug 20, 2008
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