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    replace old Dell Inspiron optical bay with second HD?

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by pchaplo, Oct 6, 2008.

  1. pchaplo

    pchaplo Notebook Enthusiast

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    Im searching for an adapter. I found it once, but now I cant. Ugh!

    Givens:
    Dell Inspiron 5150

    Questions: if this can be done, will the speed be any faster than an external firewire hard drive? ...is the optical bay bus faster than firewire?
     
    pchaplo, Oct 6, 2008
    #1
  2. K-TRON

    K-TRON Hi, I'm Jimmy Diesel ^_^

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    You might want to check this link out:
    http://newmodeus.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2_27&products_id=168

    If you are looking to increase the speed of your system, you may want to upgrade your IDE/PATA internal harddrive with a Samsung Hm160HC. It is the fastest drive for the interface and it has a decent size of 160gb.

    Here is my review of the drive:
    http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=264209

    If you only want the second harddrive for backup, the drive will be limited by the interface of the optical drive, which is the IDE interface.
    If you use a high speed drive like the Hm160HC in the optical drive, than you will have 52mb/sec of data bandwidth.
    Over firewire you will get about 30mb/sec.

    K-TRON
     
    K-TRON, Oct 6, 2008
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  3. pchaplo

    pchaplo Notebook Enthusiast

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    Yes, K-Tron, I just ordered one as commanded in my hard drive post lol

    Now I need a second drive - somewhere there is an adapter where I can removed my DVD drive and slide in this adapter that holds a 2.5" hard drive. I would like to put a second Hm160HC in that bay,

    but I cant find that adaper! Ugh!!! Ive heard that the Dell 5150 connector is NOT a standard connector - Im checking your link now - THANKS!!!
     
    pchaplo, Oct 6, 2008
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  4. K-TRON

    K-TRON Hi, I'm Jimmy Diesel ^_^

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    I know Dell used to sell the slide in tray for my dell inspiron 8500 a bunch of years back.
    They made you buy it with a disc drive. You may be able to find the caddy alone, but you would need to know the model number/part number, or spend a lot of time searching.

    Good luck,

    K-TRON
     
    K-TRON, Oct 6, 2008
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  5. pchaplo

    pchaplo Notebook Enthusiast

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    I found one on eBarf
     
    pchaplo, Oct 6, 2008
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