Solved Upgrade to SSD on Lenovo G500 laptop

[gregrocker]

Thanks Gary. I will probably eventually swap out the OD for HD since to me its now just wasted space. Wonder if the weight difference without it might be noticeable. This Lenovo is just a tad heavy at 5.73 lbs.

The OD converter looks like fun but could be weighty with the HD added back in.

Then again I only schlepp it through airports and really like a weighty pack for exercise. I'm carrying it around Europe this summer.

 

[Britton30]

I suspect the missing OD innards is heavier than the HDD.

 

[essenbe]

No, 2.5" drives are light. I suspect you won't be able to tell the difference unless it is in the converter itself. The drive weighs nothing to speak of.

 

[essenbe]

Greg, FWIW I have about 3 of these and use them for external laptop drives and SSDs. No other power needed and they work fine. They were made for a Seagate external but work on any sata drive. Amazon.com : Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Upgrade Cable USB 3.0 - STAE104 : Computer Usb Cables : Electronics

 

[gregrocker]

Even 1tb that light? The 1tb External here is heavy. Maybe its the case? It is one of those aluminum shock cases. It's also old so maybe I should replace it with this one.

Thanks Guys. I really enjoy getting my hardware lessons from you. I've been lucky with my few hardware assignments mainly because of you.

 

[essenbe]

No problem, Greg. We feel good to help out a friend. I'm sure I speak for Gary too. As far as the cable, I've never tried a 1 TB, but I have run a 500 GB drive with it without issue. I really don't think it matters. It won't run a 3.5" drive though, but any Laptop 2.5" drive should be no problem.

 

[Britton30]

Yeah, the 1TB may have two platters which is really insignificant in weight. Older enclosures do seem a little heavier.

 

[whs]

Greg, if you like to have a really light machine, you should look at this one. It weighs only 2.3 pounds and with a big MicroSD card you have plentuy of storage. I got it a couple of months ago for travel. It's a great machine, very snappy, superb screen and a battery that lasts over 10 hours.

 

[gregrocker]

I remember when you got it Wolfgang. I was trying this Lenovo then, the fourth or fifth I'd tested under Best Buy's 15 days return policy and the first which had no fatal flaw. We discussed the weight.

The battery is pretty small but seems to last 5 hours with light use.

I need at least a 15.6" screen to comfortably sit back when writing. I loved a 17" HP Core I3 Haswell (also $399) which was lighter and just as fast but had a flimsy power adapter plug that fell out, which killed that deal.

But anything smaller is too small. I couldn't wait to get rid of the Surface Pro they practically gave us at MVP Summit, hunched over and squinting trying to find where they hid the desktop.

 

[whs]

Yeah, I also thought the small screen would be a problem - especially with my poor eyesight. But it turned out to be no problem using my reading classes. I even have no problem with the small keyboard whilst my wife who can type at incredible speeds has some problems.

But it certainly is different than a 17" laptop. I just like the small form factor.

 

[essenbe]

Guys, I have a Samsung 17" laptop that holds 2 hard drives (SSDs now), but surprisingly it is very light and it seems lighter than my 15.6" Dell Inspiron. My Wife loves it. I just get to work on it for her, even though I bought it for me. Now she says where are you going with my laptop. LOL

 

[whs]

I found the difference in weight is in the screen. I once had a 15" Vaio with a HD screen, it weighed a ton.

 

[Torah Lishmah]

Yet I've never heard anything bad about PNY.

I've owned a number of PNY products over the years [mostly RAM & GFX cards] and they have proven to be quality hardware. Nothing PNY has failed on me yet. Not one.

I should have said up front that I never use disks, would have bought a laptop without OD if I didn't want to have the conversion option. Now that time is here with the $10 caddy (looks ok?) and a 120gb PNY SSD which after a BB gift card and 3 reward certs comes out to my favorite price of....free! with free shipping.

Heck yeah! Like I always say "If it's for free - it's for me!"

No problem, Greg. We feel good to help out a friend. I'm sure I speak for Gary too.

I would venture to say that is why most of us are here. It's nice to have the opportunity to help guys out, who in turn, are helping others out too. That's what is so cool about this little community at SevenForums. I haven't been here that long, and I can already tell this is a special place.

 

[Britton30]

Have you done the deed yet Greg? Nosy people Inquiring minds want to know.

 

[gregrocker]

Not yet, Gary. Waiting for Best Buy to ship my free SSD.

 

[Britton30]

Gotcha, you already have the laptop?

 

[gregrocker]

Yeah I've had it since December. Like it a lot. The only flaw is at reboot the clean install doesn't load the Elan pointing device touchpad software until I open it from tab in Control Panel>Mouse. This keeps it from disabling the touchpad whenever the mouse is plugged in which I have selected in the software. As soon as my fingers brush the "gesture pad" it causes the cursor to skip around, and my curser to go ballistic. Suddenly a hundred words a minute becomes like air hockey.

But I use Hibernate 9 days out of 10 so it's pretty easy to ignore and forget til it goes off.

 

[gregrocker]

Greg, I collect Hard drives and SSDs. Ask Gary. But, it's a 2.5" drive .a usb cable will run it. You could use it for a lot of things being portable and as small as it is. I'm not necessarily recommending this cable, but one like this would work great. I use 2 of them and they work real well. Newegg.com - StarTech USB3S2SAT3CB USB 3.0 to 2.5? SATA III Hard Drive Adapter Cable w/ UASP. 1TB that will fit in your shirt pocket is nice for on the road.

I'm leaning toward using the 1tb internal as external storage with just the cable like you linked here. Is it necessary to encase it in something to protect the exposed circuitry? What's the most minimal I can leave it so it does indeed fit in pocket?

Thanks for the advice. SSD arrives Wed.

 

[essenbe]

I don't encase mine. But, I also don't travel around with them. Let me look and see what I can find.

 

[essenbe]

Greg, take a look at this one Amazon.com: Cable Matters 5 Pack, Color Coded 2.5" SATA Hard Drive Protective Case: Computers & Accessories
You can take your choice of most of these http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Delectronics&field-keywords=2.5%22%20hard%20drive%20portable%20case

There are a few more options here. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...A+Hard+Drive+Protective+Case+&N=-1&isNodeId=1