P150HM - Swap DVD for SSD

Hi all,

On the danger that a threat exists, I want to say I did search for it, but didnt find any yet.

I am looking into swapping out my DVD (blu) drive for an SSD and I am looking for mainly 2 things:

1. Which SSD to buy
2. How to do the swap.


1) I am looking into 256GB or above. Budget is up to $399, i.e. 400 is the max. I am willing to spend. As I am currently in China, prices are high, but I may be able to source from the US so, I am ok with US prices for reference. What are the criteria to watch out for and any drives you would recommend for my specs (see sig)?

2) I do not know how to do the swap, though I (foolishly?) imagine it not to be too hard. I also wonder, whether I could transform my DVD drive into an external DVD drive via case/cable? Is something like that possible? Otherwise, how difficult is such a swap to do and how long would it take?

Could I do the following:
Move current 750gb into the DVD bay and the new SSD into the place where my 750gb is now?
Reason being: I will make the SSD the bootable but want to be able to occasionally switch DVD for HDD, so to swap as to avoid ripping out my boot HDD .


Any help is very much appreciated!


Cheers guys!!!
~TheHans~

 

You probably want to use the SSD as your primary drive for the OS (unless you already have one..and this is your second) as the optical drive bay is slower than the main hard drive bay. This means you'll need a optical bay adapter into which you can install your current hard drive, and the SSD will install into the main drive bay. Cleanest setup is to completely reinstall on the SSD...simplest setup is probably to grab a trial version of one of the cloning applications and clone your drive over to the SSD.

 

1. Just check out sites like Newegg and browse through reviews. Pretty much everyone here has their own preferences. Samsung, Cruicial M4, Intel, and several others make good SSD's. It's really up to you. Just make sure it's a standard 2.5" laptop drive.

2. To swap it, you'll need to purchase an HDD caddy (a 12.7mm optical drive to SATA caddy). This will give you a bay that fits exactly where your optical drive went, but has mounting installed in it for a standard laptop drive. You can buy a slim external enclosure that will fit your old optical drive, so you don't have to throw it out either. I would highly recommend this route rather than frequently removing the drive to go back and forth. This is an example of the external enclosure:

Newegg.com - StarTech SLMSOPTB USB to Slimline CD/DVD Optical Drive Black External Enclosure

The caddy may not match your machine, in which case you may need to swap the bezel from the old optical drive for the one that came with the caddy. It usually just takes a screw driver, though if it doesn't fit- some glue may also be needed.

Considering that most new SSD's are SATA III and the only SATA III port you can put your new drive on is the primary bay, that's where I'd put the SSD anyway, just like you'd planned.

 

Thanks for the great responses!

Let me recap to make sure I get it

1. I buy a 2.5 SSD drive.
2. I replace my hard drive with that SSD drive (need to reinstall but thats ok)
3. Take out my DVD drive and put it in an external enclosure.
Question on this: How is this then connected to my laptop?
4. I take my old primary drive (the 750gb hdd) and put it in a HDD caddy which I can then plug into my old optical bay

Is that about right?


Thanks!!!!
~TheHans

 

Also, any reasons not to buy this drive?
Newegg.com - Crucial M4 CT256M4SSD2 2.5" 256GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

I am not very familiar with specs of SSD, so any feedback is appreciated!


I have been browsing a bit, and I feel the most difficult will be for me to tell whether the replacement HDD Caddy which will go into my Optical Bay and host my old HDD will fit my system. What are the criteria and how can I tell whether it fits?

Thanks so much for your help!!!

 

To answer your question about the optical enclosure, it's connected by USB to the laptop.

I can't comment on the brand of SSD as per forum rules, but others can probably help out there.

As for the optical caddy, they should all be basically the same. A 12.7mm SATA caddy should work. Newmodeus and most resellers/retailers that sell the laptops have them as well.

 

Ordered my machine with caddy and installed it myself.

It has the same SATA-2 built in connector as the dvd drive. You just slide it in all the way and put the screw on its end.

Use the primary hdd slot for the ssd, its a SATA-3 bay.

 

This is what I am afraid of. If I understand right, this would not be an issue or do I need to look for a specific model? Apologies for my confusion

I came across this: http://www.newmodeus.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2_48&products_id=381
Thus I believe this should work then.

Thanks for all the great responses! Really!

 

That link you provided is also one of the most highly recommended brand in the SSD world so you should be fine with it.

you could as well buy an external ODD case to plug your blu-ray/dvd-drive so you don't have to attach/re-attach the secondary drive if you need to use your drive. although I'm not sure if this would work well on a blu-ray drive since i haven't tested it yet (only on a dvd drive).

also don't install any programs on your secondary drive that you plan to use in case you may need to remove it if you replace it back to an odd drive.

 

Great stuff. I am getting excited! Now the sourcing begins and I say 'welcome to the China problem'...

Plan to purchase hence is:
1. External Enclosure via eSata (right?)
eSATAp External Enclosure for optical drives (12.7mm SATA) [slimSATA-eSATAp-C15] - $25.95 : NewmodeUS, Hard Drive Caddys for Notebooks

2. HDD Caddy for old drive
2nd HDD or SSD Caddy, Clevo B5130M, W150HN, P150HM, W251HP [OBHD-SATA12-SATA-BU] - $44.75 : NewmodeUS, Hard Drive Caddys for Notebooks

3. 256 GB SSD drive
Newegg.com - Crucial M4 CT256M4SSD2 2.5" 256GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)


Not asking for brand opinion, but simply for compatibility with my P150HM. I believe it should all be fine. If you spot something do let me know.

NBR rocks!

 

Well, Id pick an USB3.0 enclosure instead of e-Sata.
Reasons:
-speed is never an issue with usb3.0
-usb3.0 enclosures are backwards compatible with usb2.0
-not every computer has e-sata ports, better go with usb3.0
-there are more usb3.0 enclosures on the market as options

hope someone doesent ninja me while i write it trough my phone...

And this: wie geht es euch da in Deutschland so? Was macht Angie Merkel just kidding

 

I'd second this. Get the USB 2.0 enclosure rather than eSATA. It's more universal and speed shouldn't be an issue with an optical drive- USB is more than enough.

 

OK, will adjust accordingly.

Actually found a very nice NBR member who happens to trade what I need, so this should be very good

Thanks all!!!

 

Just thought I'd throw in my thoughts... Crucial is a very good brand with a low price and no hidden flaws, but depending on your budget you might want to get a samsung. They cost a little more than crucial (still under $400), but have slightly higher read/write speeds and samsung manufactures everything in-house, no 3rd-party components, so QA should be better. Both drives are very good, though.

 

2 and 3 is correct, for 1 you have more options like usb 2,3 and the e-sata one you linked

(personally I use a usb 2 enclosure so I could use it on my dekstop as well in case I'd need it)