Many of you tech bods might know...

[Woodee]

I am refurbing my sister's laptop (mainly so I have another laptop without buying new).

The HD in it has failed, or is on the cusp of failing so I looked up the specs to see if I could get an SSD equivalent or faster that would be cheap enough.

Here is the current HD: http://storage.toshiba.com/storagesolut ... ifications

It is going at SATA 1 speeds and has the same interface, what speeds of an SSD would I be looking at to match it?

[Pinger$]

Any SSD would do... there's not many you can buy that perform under SATA1 speeds.
Samsung's and Intel's are the most reliable in my experience... though not the cheapest.

E.g.
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?mai ... &vk_sort=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
PS. disregard the mSATA SSD's on that page.

[wobblysauce]

Any will do.

Side note, If you have an old laptop with a 5400rpm hdd a SSD will bring new life to it.

[Woodee]

Any will do.

Side note, If you have an old laptop with a 5400rpm hdd a SSD will bring new life to it.

That is what I am counting on

[Quincy]

I'm interested in this. One of our laptops is on the verge. . .
I'll get some tech details tonight and see what I can find.

Thanks Woodee.

[r8response]

Laptop hard drives are the same dimensions as an SSD.

Straight forward swap.

[plastik8]

Would older motherboards have TRIM support for SSDs? Or is that a software thing now? Or not really an issue?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Pinger$]

as far as i know, TRIM is all software.. just sending a command to the disk to start the process.

AHCI is the thing you're looking for on the motherboard. You should enable it in the bios if you can. It enables some more advanced functionality for talking to the disk... which might give you some more performance.
Google for "Windows 7 enable AHCI" if you have an existing installation and it won't boot with AHCI on.

[wobblysauce]

Trim is a speed up, to help the disk stay organised. NCQ or AHCI.
Up to 50% or under for fullish speed, big drop over that point with no Trim.

Just a different way of placing files then a Platter drive.

As for size, most are HDD 2.5in 5400rpm, you did get some that took 3.5in but took more power, but you got more speed early desktop replacements..

Xp can work but it is not the best for TRIM support like Vista or W7.
As for the mobo it self.. there hit and miss with the bios, had a laptops with NT, 98, 2000, Xp work.. and another's with vista crashfest.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/192930/h ... n_ssd.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2263363" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


You can only go as fast as the slowest componets, that generaly was Ram(Lack of/ use more of so less going to HDD) and HDD speed.

[Woodee]

Would it be good to clone my existing drive so I wouldn't need to install everything again? ( I don't think I have the discs for the master drivers)

http://www.clonezilla.org/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I wonder whether it would matter if an SATA (presumably with files fragmented) having it cloned in that state to an SSD?!

[ysu]

Would it be good to clone my existing drive so I wouldn't need to install everything again? ( I don't think I have the discs for the master drivers)

http://www.clonezilla.org/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I wonder whether it would matter if an SATA (presumably with files fragmented) having it cloned in that state to an SSD?!

It's generally not a very good idea (spin->SSD migration), but it can work. (As in clonezilla can do it - I've used it myself, too. Bit daunting first, mind you) I think there are issues with block sizes, but I'm not quite sure.
In cany case, if you can spare the time, do a proper new install. It's better for windows as well.

I think you can d/l the windows installs from microsoft anytime - I certainly could, from technet. (they come w/o keys, but you have that, haven't you?)
Basically sharing a (non-cracked) windows install it seems is fine, it's the keys... Even that you can re-use; I've called their support for activation on my 2nd computer. They said it's fine.

[wobblysauce]

As Ysu, pointed out, it is not the best to do a HDD-SSD clones, better in most senses to plug the drive in as a portable and grab everything you want off it that way, with a new installation or swap Data to another computer and then back again.

[Quincy]

Ok, so I have one of these : http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/docu ... ct=3827473


Should I put this in it? http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?mai ... 62ba9ab1dd


or something similar?

[r8response]

Ok, so I have one of these : http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/docu ... ct=3827473

My god Quincy, it packs a "High speed 56K modem"

Should I put this in it? http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?mai ... 62ba9ab1dd


or something similar?

Something similar, but at least 256gb. After windows, updates and a few programs you'll find yourself quickly running out of space.

That's the only thing I regret about my SSD is it's only 128gb.

[ysu]

hehe I think the SSD is worth more than the laptop....

[Quincy]

lol.

Ha Ha, very funny mutha f#&ka's!!


This ain't no work horse, that is for sure. Primarily used by the wife for browsing, and kids playing minecraft.
The hdd is on the way out, so i'm after a cheap replacement, so this post from Woodee got me thinking....

If I get a good performance increase, ie, turns on quickly etc. . . I'll be happy.

Unless I can get a 10" tablet for $110?

[r8response]

If I get a good performance increase, ie, turns on quickly etc. . . I'll be happy.

Unless I can get a 10" tablet for $110?

You won't be able to extract the maximum performance due to a lack of SATA3 connectivity, but it'll certainly boot up a lot faster than the current drive can.


As for finding a 10" Tablet for under $110, it's possible. But it'd probably be an Aldi special that's about as fast as a calculator.

[Woodee]

Are the read, seek and write statistics in the same units for both SSD drives and platter ones?

I mean comparing this:

http://storage.toshiba.com/storagesolut ... ifications" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

with this

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?mai ... 62ba9ab1dd" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

My tired brain can't match up what I should be looking at!

I am wondering the same as some of you guys... maybe it is not worth the hassle in resurrecting my sisters laptop, save my money and get myself a 10"+ android tablet!

[r8response]

SSD's have no seek time as they don't rely on the head moving to the data on the platter. As for read-write times. They'll always be better on an SSD.

[ysu]

As for finding a 10" Tablet for under $110, it's possible. But it'd probably be an Aldi special that's about as fast as a calculator.

Actually, the last time I looked the Aldi one had a few very good reviews, it was on par with any tablet out there. Sadly not every single one of their offers are the same. But it'll still be faster than that old laptop in my opinion.
So yeah, I wouldn't put it in the "impossible" basket, not at all.

[r8response]

Throw more ram and an SSD into the laptop and a tablet wouldn't come close.

[ysu]

hm....might be interested in some cheaper samsungs?
http://www.mwave.com.au/catalog/ssssdeaster" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

(disclaimer; I haven't double checked if all the prices are really-really cheap, they look cheap enough to me, do your own research!)

[r8response]

$10 to $20 cheaper than on PCCG

[Woodee]

I have another question about cloning drives, kinda in the same area SATA to SSD.

I want to expand my microSD that is in my phone, currently I have 2GB and I want about 8-16gb. Now the problem is, most of my phones apps are linked to the SD card.

Can I clone the 2GB onto the bigger card then expand the partitions afterwards? It does have an ext4 partition particularly for apps which can only be seen by a few partition managers.