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    Raptor 150GB in CF30

    Discussion in 'Panasonic' started by tiderfish, Jan 13, 2015.

  1. tiderfish

    tiderfish Notebook Enthusiast

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    I recently got a used WDD Raptor 10k 150GB SATA drive. I thought I would be smart and speed up my CF-30 with a fast hard drive.


    I spent about an hour fitting the larger than usual drive into the caddy. I also applied a copper heatsink to the drive to mitigate the heat.

    Well I get it all plugged in and set in place, boot up the machine, and it does not detect the drive. It won't even spin up the drive.

    Has anyone else had this problem?

    I assume the drive is trying to pull too much power. I pulled the caddy and put my regular HDD in there and it works fine.

    Anyone know of a fast large drive that works in these units?

    ( unit is a CF-30FT)

    Thanks!!

    Matt|ttaM
     
  2. safn1949

    safn1949 I'm sure I'm on the wrong planet

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    Go SSD,it really is the way to go and you will be amazed at the speed boost,4gb of ram and a 128ssd = Zoom.
     
  3. tiderfish

    tiderfish Notebook Enthusiast

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    Yeah, I switch between a 60gb SSD (gen1) , and the stock 80GB HDD. SSD is def faster, but too small. I don't really want to have to pay to upgrade this unit. Or at least SSD prices...

    You are right about the 4GB RAM upgrade, that was night and day difference!

    Matt|ttaM
     
  4. ADOR

    ADOR Evil Mad Scientist

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    If I remember right this would take some modding on voltage to get this to work in a laptop, but I see another problem. There is no fan in a CF-30 and these drives put off a lot of heat. The heat inside the caddy will bake the hard drive so it won't have a long life. If you already have a working SSD and you just need some extra storage you have some options. They have some small enough usb sticks that will fit with the rear door closed. Also larger SD cards have become very affordable.
     
  5. Toughbook

    Toughbook Drop and Give Me 20!

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    ^^THIS^^

    Heat is NOT your friend!
     
  6. tiderfish

    tiderfish Notebook Enthusiast

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    Thanks for the replies guys.

    I think I will not risk damaging the unit. So no mods and no excessive heat. I was just wondering if it was an easy hack.

    I notice the SD card is labeled HC (High Capacity). What is the max size the SD card reader can read? Will it take a 128GB?

    Matt|ttaM
     
  7. ADOR

    ADOR Evil Mad Scientist

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    I have personally only used up to 32gb, but others have reported 64 gb will work. I don't remember anyone trying a 128 yet.
     
  8. tiderfish

    tiderfish Notebook Enthusiast

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    Thanks for the replies.

    I picked up a 64GB SD card onsale from Newegg today (Shell Shocker). So this will free up a 32GB card from my phone.... Ah the trickle down effect.

    Matt|ttaM