SSD in 4 year old Inspiron 9400

[HerrKaLeun]

I have a Dell Inspiron 9400 and think of upgrading to an SSD (likely the 40 GB Intel since I don't need much space).

I removed the HDD and saw it is a 100 GB SATA from June 2006. Hitachi HTS721010GSA00 with 7200 rpm. no cables, it seems to plug right into the power and SATA plug inside the laptop. Wil that be the same type as a new SSD? I mean position of the plugs. there is a little plastic piece from the laptop case attached to the HDD. I wonder how that transfers to the SSD?

Will I encounter any problems? I didn't see any laptop-specific the Newegg Laptop SSDs bring me straight to the normal SSDs.

From what Intels says it seems to be very similar in dimensions

I googled to some, but didn't get clear answers.

 

[not so gray matter]

From what I know, it should work fine as long as your laptop uses SATA. Even if it uses 1.5Gb/s SATA the drive should be backwards compatible. However, someone with more experience with SSD's should be able to tell you for sure.

EDIT: It seems that you'll be limited to 150MB/s but thats not much lower than most SSDs are rated.

http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/disk-drives/f/3534/p/19263788/19553191.aspx#19553191

 

[Darryl Licht]

HerrKaLeun:

First off, a 2.5" SATA HDD is a standardized size and plug layout, so yes it will work!

My only question is why on a 4 year old lappy? The performance benefits of switching to an SSD on an older lappy wouldnt be that great once you factor in price. Sure you will boot faster and gain a little more batt life. But if you want "bang for your buck" performance, max the RAM and ditch that Hitachi in favor of a true performance mechanical HDD (Western Digital or Seagate 7200 or faster)... IMHO!

 

[HerrKaLeun]

Maybe once I moved my laptop data off the HDD will be faster. but of all the options (new high-speed HDD, more RAM), the SSD for $ 114 is not so bad.

the problem with a new laptop is, it still has a HDD unless i buy an expensive one. and the laptop HDDs are slow compared to desktop HDDs. Hence the SSD would make even more sense than in a desktop.

Well, maybe I just leave it as is. Or i try to sell it and use the money for a new one.

 

[Darryl Licht]

Maybe once I moved my laptop data off the HDD will be faster. but of all the options (new high-speed HDD, more RAM), the SSD for $ 114 is not so bad.

the problem with a new laptop is, it still has a HDD unless i buy an expensive one. and the laptop HDDs are slow compared to desktop HDDs. Hence the SSD would make even more sense than in a desktop.

Well, maybe I just leave it as is. Or i try to sell it and use the money for a new one.

What are the specs on your current lappy?

 

[whs]

Here is a SSD picture if that helps.

 

[HerrKaLeun]

What are the specs on your current lappy?

17", 2 GB, Core-duo 1.86 GHz

not the fastest anymore, but at the time it was pretty impressive and I used it as desktop replacement. Now you get 4GB and faster CPU for $ 500 :sarc:

 

[whs]

What are the specs on your current lappy?

17", 2 GB, Core-duo 1.86 GHz

not the fastest anymore, but at the time it was pretty impressive and I used it as desktop replacement. Now you get 4GB and faster CPU for $ 500 :sarc:

Interesting. I have a very similar (15") laptop that I paid $1100 over 3 years ago and I am now putting an 80GB Intel SSD on it - and that will be ample. My wife who uses it has all her files on an USB stick because we move between 3 locations (but do not move the laptops). I hope to get better performance and less heat (heat was a problem from day1 with this laptop because it vents to the bottom. Had to put a chillpad under it).

 

[Darryl Licht]

At the current price per GB of $4-5 for SSD's, I think you will get better all around performance by spending that money elsewhere.

With RAM prices down maxing the RAM and adding a fast energy efficient mechanical HDD such as a WD Caviar will yeild better overall performance for about the same cash. 2x2GB RAM will run you $80-100, and a you can get a 300GB HDD for $80-90!

 

[whs]

At the current price per GB of $4-5 for SSD's, I think you will get better all around performance by spending that money elsewhere.

There is nothing, absolutely nothing that can speed up your system as much as an SSD - for the same money. Any modest older system will start flying once you put the SSD in. The only prerequisite is a reasonable amount of RAM (e.g. 2GBs).

 

[Darryl Licht]

At the current price per GB of $4-5 for SSD's, I think you will get better all around performance by spending that money elsewhere.

There is nothing, absolutely nothing that can speed up your system as much as an SSD - for the same money. Any modest older system will start flying once you put the SSD in. The only prerequisite is a reasonable amount of RAM (e.g. 2GBs).

When you take "bang for your buck" into consideration, I disagree!

I upgraded the stock 100GB 5400RPM HDD to a 7200RPM WD Caviar 300GB in my 4 year old lappy it cut boot times in half... for $89.00! I couldnt imagine spending
3-4 times more $ for less storage than the original HDD contained. I USE my lappy, and needed more space... the added speed was a nice benefit on top.

Now if I win the lotto... I could care less!

 

[whs]

Darryl, no problem if you are happy with that. You probably got like 10 to 20% better performance. But with an SSD we talk about orders of magnitude - in speed. However, if you need more disk space, the SSD does not qualify for a laptop (unless you have 2 bays). On a desktop, however, a small SSD for the system only makes a lot of sense.

Btw: Your little disk was quite expensive. Next time check here.

 

[HerrKaLeun]

I guess I was thinking getting by with a 40 GB SSD for $ 114. Obvioulsy, if you need more space, an SSD becomes outrageously expensive. Praise the desktop for its ability to use both HDD and SSD each where they are strong.

 

[whs]

There are new 17" laptops around that have 2 disk bays (e.g. HP). You can also trade your CDROM bay for a disk. But that takes good mechanic skills - LOL.

 

[Darryl Licht]

Darryl, no problem if you are happy with that. You probably got like 10 to 20% better performance. But with an SSD we talk about orders of magnitude - in speed. However, if you need more disk space, the SSD does not qualify for a laptop (unless you have 2 bays). On a desktop, however, a small SSD for the system only makes a lot of sense.

Btw: Your little disk was quite expensive. Next time check here.

That's a good deal... on a Caviar Green, but I have the Caviar Black w/16MB cache: Newegg.com - Western Digital Scorpio Black WD3200BJKT 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache 2.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Internal Notebook Hard Drive

I'm just saying I dont think that much $ spent on less storage is going to help the majority of users. It's also a Pandoras box... if you upgrade to an SSD in a lappy, you will need as much RAM as possible for best performance 2-4GB... so another upgrade and more $ thrown into a 4 year old machine.

When SSD's drop in price to near mechanical HDD prices, and they will, then I will make the switch!