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    Upgrade Envy 15 1st gen with SSD

    Discussion in 'HP' started by karlkim, May 27, 2011.

  1. karlkim

    karlkim Newbie

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    Hi all,
    I have the Envy 15 1st gen (Envy 15-1050nr)with 500GB HDD installed. I am thinking about replacing the current HDD with SSD. Do you know which SSD can be used with it?

    1. I am looking at Intel 320 Series 120 GB SATA 3.0 Gb-s 2.5-Inch. What do you guys think?

    2. I would like to get an eSata or USB enclosure for the existing 500GB HDD, so I can still use the HDD. Could you also recommend which enclosure I should get?

    Thanks much!
     
  2. Star Forge

    Star Forge Quaggan's Creed Redux!

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    1. That should work fairly nicely as long as it is 2.5" variant.
    2. Any eSATA enclosure that takes a SATA II interface will do and yes you can use your existing hard drive as an external in this case.
     
  3. karlkim

    karlkim Newbie

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    Thanks much for the information! I know that this kind of topic might be discussed a lot last year :)

    I will post the result as soon as I have it done.
     
  4. Star Forge

    Star Forge Quaggan's Creed Redux!

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    Let us know! It should work out perfectly.
     
  5. karlkim

    karlkim Newbie

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    I finally pull the trigger and got the Intel 320 120 GB SSD from Amazon. My WEI was 5.9 (lowest score was the original 500 GB HDD), and it is now 6.7 (lowest score is graphics card).

    120GB is pretty small for today standard, so I can't keep things that I don't really need (e.g., video, musics, photos, VMWare file). I now have about 48 GB left.

    The process to replace HDD with SSD was not so hard. The size of 2.5" SSD does fit perfectly. I just notice that I have one vacant memory slot, that I could upgrade later. I also put the old HDD in the enclosure and carry it with the notebook all the time and point those libraries (e.g., Music, Videos, Podcasts) to HDD.

    Like what most people who have done this said, this is the best upgrade that you can do. Although this is the first-gen Envy 15, even with HDD, it is still a beast (4 cores i7). This upgrade should let me keep this notebook until Windows 8 is released. :)
     
  6. notebooko

    notebooko Notebook Consultant

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    Are there any hardware requirements for Windows 8? I was planning on using Windows 8 on my current Envy 14 if possible.. :eek:
     
  7. Devenox

    Devenox Notebook Evangelist

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    No such high requirements for notebooks/desktops. The only thing I remember was you will need to have atleast a 1366x768 resolution. Which every notebook has today.
     
  8. karlkim

    karlkim Newbie

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    My impression from the first Windows 8 preview at D9 event and some blogs. Windows 8 will require the same hardware requirement as Windows 7, so most new notebooks should be fine.

    Windows 8 - Microsoft UK Faculty Connection - Site Home - MSDN Blogs