d7v Quad Sandy Bridge (without Dual Hard Drives)

Has anyone actually received one of these? I had heard on other forums that unless you order your d7v quad with dual drives then you won't be able to expand it because they use a slightly modified case if you order it with 1 vs 2 drives. So they were told if you order one with one drive then there wouldn't be a separate slot for an additional drive. Someone said they talked to multiple reps and HP and they told them the same thing. I find this very suspicious and we all know how knowlegeable a lot of the reps are sometimes. I can't imagine then designing two difference cases since it would probably cost them more in the long run.

Has anyone actually received a d7v quad yet and is there any truth to this?

thanks,
Ncage

 

I heard there was a hard drive caddy kit you would have to buy from the parts store but I don't have one so I can't confirm.

 

I looked around the HP store but couldn't find any caddy kit for it... not that it doesnt exist, I just couldn't find it. I did find one in the asus store for the g73sw (another notebook im looking at) but it was sold out. lol.

It seems the safest bet if you ever want to add dual drives to a machine is to buy it with dual drives which is a waste on the dv7 since most of the dual drive options are 5400rpm... doesn't HP think anyone wants alot of storage thats fast too.. lol.

 

There's only one mount kit listed in the DV7t Service Manual.

Some other manuals, like the Envy, say that the kit includes caddy and cable for both the primary and secondary drives. The one in the new DV7 manual doesn't say which drive(s) it is for. (and costs less than half as much as the two drive Envy hardware kit)

The hard drives in the illustration on page 19 show the primary with a very short stub of cable, and the cable on the secondary is several inches long. I don't know how they can sell only one hardware kit unless it includes hardware for both drives, or at least hardware for one drive and both cables.

Hard Drive Hardware Kit (not illustrated, includes bracket, connector cable, Mylar shield, and screws)
641306-001

The drive bay lid is tool free, so I hope the first person to receive one takes out the battery, pops off the hard drive lid, and tells us what's inside.

 

If you believe the manual, then the HD kit will include both brackets and cables. From Page 25:

Hard Drive Hardware Kit, includes:
(2a) Primary hard drive connector cable
(2b) Primary hard drive bracket
(4a) Secondary hard drive connector cable
(4b) Secondary hard drive bracket
Screws (not illustrated)

 

Was wondering about this too, sometime in the future I want to make use of the 2nd HD bay.

 

shameless plug here but i have a newmodus kit for the dv7 4XXX and 5XXX series...unfortunately for me, it won't work with my new 6XXX series (black/brown ones).

if you're talking about the newest ones...sorry, can't help you there...i did heard its a completely different caddy then from the 4XXX and 5XXX DV7's...