thinkpad with 2 harddrive bays.

can somebody link me a model that has 2 harddrive bays. i want to use 1 hdd for storage and a sdd for applications. thanks. anysize is fine.

 

Less expensive+almost as much power=Refurb ThinkPad W700/ds (dual screen)
Updated with i series processors+much more money=W701/ds (dual screen)

They are both 17" and are the only produced ThinkPad models to feature 2 separate HDD bays, but this was possible with most ThinkPads with an UltraBay HDD caddy.

 

As stated, if you don't care for the ODD, every model with an ODD can be replaced with a secondary HDD/SSD.

 

whats a ODD?

 

Optical disk drive.

CD/DVD drive.

 

i see. w701 it is. thanks for the help.

 

Wow... no more consultation is needed? Just going to pull the trigger on a big W701????

 

It's about the only game in town if the OP needs two drive bays as well as an optical drive.

Personally, I have very little use for an optical drive anymore. Since I need space more than blazing speed(so no SSD for me yet), I've got a 500GB HDD and a 640GB HDD in my main bay as well as the Ultrabay. Plenty of space in a T400 for me to be happy with.

 

The T series can do it. THe X series can do it also with the ultrabase, but the T series will get you the most compact 2 HDD option.

And this is yet another reason why manufacturers need to get rid of expresscard slots ASAP. A 2nd HDD will fit in its place very nicely.

 

um no? i use my expresscard all the time and i can't wait until expresscard 2.0

 

its for a friend who'll use it to program and saids money isnt an issue (he wanted a thinkpad), the gpu is kinda wasted but owell.

 

make sure hes fine with a gigantic laptop though.

 

Well given he/she is a programmer, i suggest you go for a WUXGA screen for the most screen real estate.

 

ya hes fine with huge laptop, it will be used only at home and at work. so mobility isnt an issue. thanks for all the help

 

Thats backward thinking. There are many non-expresscard I/Os coming in the future (USB 3.0, light peak, etc) that has high data transfer rates and low latency.

One of the only merits of the original expresscard idea is that third party devices can fit inside the laptop without affecting the laptop form factor, and that it has one of the higher data transfer rates at the time (which will no longer be true with upcoming I/O standards). However, expresscard is a standard very little manufacturers have adopted. USB is the standard most manufacturers across all classes of electronics adopt. Hence, expresscard is useless and USB useful.

The fact you use expresscard today, is because certain niche manufacturers (to perform tasks like external video dock or eSATA etc) adopted to use the expresscard standard. In the future, it does not preclude the ability to perform those same functions to be achieved (such as external video card etc) but using other non-expresscard standard for I/O data transfer. Future-proofing is also not a valid reason to make the majority of users who don't use expresscards in their laptop lifetime, suffer by carrying an empty useless space the entire time. Not to mention, you can easily future proof laptops by using external docking solutions of whatever you need to use, in the future for things not available at the time of purchase of said laptop.

I have seen numerous online polls indicating that the majority of laptop users don't ever use their expresscard slots. That is certainly reflective of the level it has been adopted by third party electronics manufacturers. In fact, apple and even lenovo (+many manufactuers) are starting to move away from expresscard and PCMCIA (apple doesnt include expresscard slots anymore and thinkpad T series have moved away to the expresscard 34 from previously having 2 major slots for PCMCIA/expresscard/PCcard slots).

There will come a time when optical disks like CD, DVD, blueray will be redundant also. It may be useful to support the adoption of new and better concepts than get stuck with redundant ideas IMHO.