Current HDD recommendation for CF29 + same for SSD's to go in CF18

Hdd in my Mk 4 CF29 has recently started to make some odd sounds so it could be on the way out. I've read the FAQ which says don't use the Samsung Spinpoint drives. What are the currently-recommended drives for CF29's (WD Scorpion going on the FAQ) and what's the max capacity the system can support (it's running Xp Pro, if that matters)? The CF29 is my home system so it's not really requiring a rugged drive or an SSD.

In the same vein, I'm considering looking at an SSD for my Mk2 CF18 to give the system a much needed performance improvement. I have never looked into SSD's before but I know there's been much discussion about them in the past.

What SSD's suit a Mk 2 CF18? Would it be better to look at migrating to a later version (say Mk 4 or 5) to get better support for them?

Craig.

 

Any size really but as you know its IDE and the 18 you should check this thread out http://forum.notebookreview.com/panasonic/725769-ssd-install-cf18-mk5.html . Myself I would look around for a CF-19 since the prices have dropped way down. It would be also a lot cheaper to buy a SSD for a 19 than a 18.

The only reason why I say to move up to the 19 is if you are looking to upgrade your CF-18MK2 to a MK4 or 5 that is my guess it will cost you about $100-$200 and I bet you could find a 19 for that...I know I could...well did http://www.ebay.com/itm/271249434216?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649 . I had another 19 I bought for parts ($85 for caddy / battery / charger)

 

The availability of hard drives is the reason I moved up to the newer SATA equipped toughbooks. I sold out of the 18's and still working on selling the 29.

 

I have a CF-18 Mk1 that I installed an 1/8" SATA ssd and micro-SATA to IDE adapter into, then loaded W7Ult onto it. A little extra padding (used pieces from an old caddy) to hold the unit steady was all the mods needed. Because of the size of the 1/8" ssd there is no need to cut anything. The only 'problem' is the drive activity light does not operate w/the adapter. Might be something to consider.

 

The WD Scorpio at 320GB is the maximum for the CF-29. It is the biggest available. I have one in my CF-29.

 

The WD 250GB are also good drives. I have a few in different PATA interface units and have had no problems with them. Not the biggest, baddest but still a good drive.

 

Trying to delete this... hmmm

 

Been a while since I looked at this. The HDD in my CF29 appears to be starting to go bad as if I have some large application running, like Firefox, etc. the system just freezes for up to 30 sec at times while it does continual HDD activity.

Haven't pinpointed the problem, but the HDD is the one that came with the system (320 GB) and I reckon it's time to look at replacing it with an SSD, and also do the same with my CF18 (that has a 160 GB HDD).

The CF29 has two places to fit one - the existing HDD caddy or in place of the CD/DVD drive. Searching shows a bunch of threads from 2010/11 when SSD's were still fairly novel items.

Assuming I ignore the option of the CD/DVD slot, what's the best SSD for fitting in place of the existing HDD? What's the best way to transfer the filesystem to an SSD so that it will be bootable without any tricky fiddling?

Craig.

 

First I would check to see what the health of the hard drive state is with crystaldiskinfo it will show how many power on's, how many run hours and if it's in a good health state or not. I use that program to check out used drives before loading them up.

CrystalDiskInfo - Software - Crystal Dew World


If the health is showing good it may be time for a OS reload.

How much ram are you running and how many programs are you trying to run at one time?

 

I'm not sure if it's the best way, but this is what I did for my CF-29 MK3. First I bought a PATA/SATA adapter:
Use 2 5" SSD or SATA Hard Drive in Panasonic Toughbook CF 29 Caddy IDE Adapter | eBay

Then I booted up a disk cloner in the internal CD drive (Ghost for Linux) and cloned the existing filesystem to a brand new 240GB Kingston V300 SSD in a USB SATA disk cradle. The V300 has sub-par performance under normal conditions but more than enough for IDE speeds. That's why they're cheap at the moment.

Lastly I followed the instructions on modding the CF-29 caddy with the above-mentioned SATA adapter, installed the SSD drive in it and then I was up and running. That old CF-29 now completely rocks!