Upgrading Laptop HDD to SSD

Black Swan

Has anyone replaced their laptop HDD with SSD? Easy to do? Plug and play? Problems? Suggestions?

I am planning on replacing my 2nd platter drive with a 512 GB SSD in the next month, once I have had time to research specs and pricing. Have heard that some SSDs are quicker than others. Comments? Recommendations?

hearny

Its fairly straight forward if you have any technical ability, 500GB Drives will cost a bit.

I cant go past the Samsung 840 having use plenty of other SSD's

Basic one
http://www.dabs.ie/products/samsung-500gb-840-series-sata-6gb-s-2-5--solid-state-drive-kit-8BP1.html?q=840&src=16

Pro one
http://www.dabs.ie/products/samsung-512gb-840-pro-series-sata-6gb-s-2-5--solid-state-drive-8BNT.html?q=840&src=16

The pro version is only worth the extra if you have a laptop with SATA 3.

Is there a problem with your current drive, if its working fine and you have an optical drive why not go for one of these instead:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Icy-Box-IB-AC642-Extension-Enclosure/dp/B007IXPQMY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1368408757&sr=8-1&keywords=icy+box+optical+drive

Get a 120 GB SSD (http://www.dabs.ie/products/samsung-128gb-840-pro-series-sata-6gb-s-2-5--solid-state-drive-8BNR.html?q=840%20pro&src=16) and the ICYbox, replace the hard drive with the SSD and then use the old HDD in the optical drive caddy. you can then use the optical drive in the external usb enclosure.

If you post the model number of your laptop I will see what the procedure for swapping drives is.

As far as Setting up the Operating System you have 2 options, Setup the OS (Windows I assume) from scratch on the new drive, or clone the old drive.

Setting up from scratch is the way that will give you the best performance.

Black Swan

hearny wrote: »

If you post the model number of your laptop I will see what the procedure for swapping drives is.

Toshiba Qosmio X870-BT3G23 Laptop, Intel Core i7-3630QM, Windows 8, 32GB DDR3 1600MHz SDRAM, 3GB GDDR5 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670M with Optimus, Blu-ray Disc ROM with SuperMulti DVD±R/RW Double Layer, 17.3" diagonal widescreen TruBrite TFT LCD display at 1920 x 1080, 256GB SSD Serial ATA (1st drive)...

500GB 2nd HDD 5400rpm Serial-ATA <<<<<<<<<< (2nd drive to be replaced by 512 GB SSD)

vibe666

pretty much everything hearny has already said tbh, he's covered everything of importance and hit all the right nails on their heads.

if you've got the cash i'd just go with the 512gb though (samsung 840 pro, no question) and just get any old usb enclosure off ebay for the old hard drive for moving data around as and when you need to.

Balmed Out

Planning on doing the optical drive switch with a lenovo z580

hearny

Hmm I want your laptop.

Obviously the budget is there based on the Spec of the machine so the Pro is definitely the way to go.

What are you hoping to achieve with the 500 GB SSD as you will not boost performance that much, Unless you are doing some heavy video editing.

I'd say the only boost to be had is based on the existing SSD, it may not be the same spec as the 840 Pro do you know what make / model it is.

When you said you wanted to replace your second drive I thought you meant you had already replaced it (it was late at night), its even easier to copy the second drive.

Download HDClone and burn an ISO to cd

http://www.miray.de/products/sat.hdclone.html#free

If you have a hard drive caddy you can clone it using the caddy and HDClone software.

If you do not have a caddy you could just pop out the 1st drive and pop in the new SSD, boot from the cd.

The only thing to be aware of here is selecting the correct Source and target, your Source is the existing Hard Drive and the Target is the NEW SSD I dont think your an idiot but just want to stress that this overwrites data so if you go the wrong way you will delete your drive.

MarkR

I put a 128 gb drive in as my main, and put the 500gb into the dvd bay using an adapter. This might help.

http://lifehacker.com/5837543/how-to-migrate-to-a-solid+state-drive-without-reinstalling-windows

Black Swan

hearny wrote: »

What are you hoping to achieve with the 500 GB SSD as you will not boost performance that much, Unless you are doing some heavy video editing.

Vid editing, etc.

hearny

Well then you actually do have the need for one, was just curious as some people like to spend money on the spec even though they do not need it.

I have to say I would look at a desktop PC for video editing, if possible. If you use the laptop all of the time you can generate some serious heat with that spec in a laptop not properly ventilated.

Will be a good idea to keep a temp monitor on the system or possibly a cooling mat i it runs hot.

If you ever have it in for repair I would look for some arctic silver thermal paste to be used to improve cooling.

Black Swan

Occasionally I have to move my rig to join a developmental team, so desktop PCs are a no go for me.

hearny wrote: »

If you use the laptop all of the time you can generate some serious heat with that spec in a laptop not properly ventilated.

Will be a good idea to keep a temp monitor on the system or possibly a cooling mat i it runs hot.

Indeed. I currently have a cooling pad for my laptop that can crank-up to where it sounds like it may take off!

hearny wrote: »

If you ever have it in for repair I would look for some arctic silver thermal paste to be used to improve cooling.

Grand idea.

the_syco

Black Swan wrote: »

256GB SSD Serial ATA (1st drive)...

What's the make/model and read/write speed of the current SSD? I ask as the one you're buying may have a better write speed.

I had a look at http://www.toshibadirect.com/td/b2c/cdetland.to?poid=2000044488 and it says for $190 (€145) you get the 256GB SSD.

A quick look at elara.ie gives me an 256GB Intel SSD with 500MBps/450MBps read/write for €146. The Pro that was listed above gives you 540MBps/520MBps read/write.

It all depends on the read/write speed of your current SSD. It may be better to use the new SSD as your primary.

PropJoe10

hearny wrote: »

Its fairly straight forward if you have any technical ability, 500GB Drives will cost a bit.

I cant go past the Samsung 840 having use plenty of other SSD's

Basic one
http://www.dabs.ie/products/samsung-500gb-840-series-sata-6gb-s-2-5--solid-state-drive-kit-8BP1.html?q=840&src=16

Pro one
http://www.dabs.ie/products/samsung-512gb-840-pro-series-sata-6gb-s-2-5--solid-state-drive-8BNT.html?q=840&src=16

The pro version is only worth the extra if you have a laptop with SATA 3.

Is there a problem with your current drive, if its working fine and you have an optical drive why not go for one of these instead:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Icy-Box-IB-AC642-Extension-Enclosure/dp/B007IXPQMY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1368408757&sr=8-1&keywords=icy+box+optical+drive

Get a 120 GB SSD (http://www.dabs.ie/products/samsung-128gb-840-pro-series-sata-6gb-s-2-5--solid-state-drive-8BNR.html?q=840%20pro&src=16) and the ICYbox, replace the hard drive with the SSD and then use the old HDD in the optical drive caddy. you can then use the optical drive in the external usb enclosure.

If you post the model number of your laptop I will see what the procedure for swapping drives is.

As far as Setting up the Operating System you have 2 options, Setup the OS (Windows I assume) from scratch on the new drive, or clone the old drive.

Setting up from scratch is the way that will give you the best performance.

+1 for the Samsung 840 series, got one a while back for my desktop and its awesome.

coylemj

How can I tell if my laptop (Lenovo SL510, vintage April 2010) is SATA-3 or not?

Earlier advice suggests the 840 Pro is only worth the extra if your laptop is SATA-3.

the_syco

coylemj wrote: »

How can I tell if my laptop (Lenovo SL510, vintage April 2010) is SATA-3 or not?

Earlier advice suggests the 840 Pro is only worth the extra if your laptop is SATA-3.

Going by http://www.cnet.com/laptops/lenovo-thinkpad-sl510/4507-3121_7-33776133.html SATA-300 is SATA2.

=-=

Black Swan did you find out the speed of the SSD currently in your machine?

Black Swan

the_syco wrote: »

Black Swan did you find out the speed of the SSD currently in your machine?

SanDisk 256GB SSD, 530MB/s in sequential read, and 445MB/s in sequential write speed.