Installing boot drive SSD

[klondike_bar]

I want to equip my T510 with a second drive, likely a 60gb or 120gb SSD.

obviously, even a 120gb drive wont hold all my existing data (generally i need a filesystem (discluding media) of about 100-200GB), so i plan to utilize the existing 320GB for main storage.

I am wary of using an HDD in the Ultrabay slot, as i feel it may take more abuse or potential ejection there, which is better for SSDs.

Is there anyway to RAID array a 60gb boot partition in the 320GB drive with the SSD?

[CorkyG · Accepted solution]

Don't worry about the security and well being of your HDD in the Ultrabay.  I have that in my T510, and that is where my Momentus XT 500GB hybrid lives.  It is perfectly secure and in no danger of being ejected.  To eject the Ultrabay requires unplugging everything, turning the T510 upside down and then use two hands to push the release and the slide buttons simultaneously.

I have travelled by land, sea, and air with this setup to three continents - never a problem.  Make your SSD the boot drive - and the best and fastest place for it is the internal drive bay.

[JDay]

I've had a hard drive in the ultrabay of my T510 for the past year and it is fine. The active protection system even works with it in there.

[TheDude]

You do NOT want RAID in any way on this.  I have an 80 GB SSD and 320 GB HD in my T400.  I can't imagine any other setup for a laptop today.  Go for the 120 GB, not the 60.

[JDay]

I forgot to mention that when you install the SSD you only put the rubber bumper rails on it. The cage the stock drive is in is needed to lock the drive into the ultrabay adapter.

[lippmant]

@TheDude: What make of SSD would you recommend for a T520?

Thanks.

[ThorsHammer]

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lippmant wrote:
@TheDude: What make of SSD would you recommend for a T520?

Thanks.

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What is your budget?

[TheDude]

Personally,

Intel, Samsung, Crucial

in that order.  Others are good too, but that suggestion is based on a combination of reliability, speed and value.  I'm liking the Intel 520 and Samsung 830 at the moment - especially in the 120-128 GB size for reliability and value (assuming you can't afford a 240 GB or larger).  If you are budget limited, I would say buy WHATEVER is cheap - all of them are an improvement over a mechanical drive.

[ThorsHammer]

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TheDude wrote:

Personally,

Intel, Samsung, Crucial

in that order.  Others are good too, but that suggestion is based on a combination of reliability, speed and value.  I'm liking the Intel 520 and Samsung 830 at the moment - especially in the 120-128 GB size for reliability and value (assuming you can't afford a 240 GB or larger).  If you are budget limited, I would say buy WHATEVER is cheap - all of them are an improvement over a mechanical drive.

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Ditto. I don't have the Intel Series 520 yet but I am emjoying the Samsung Series 830 256GB drive I bought.  I did some benchmarks on it and a 12.7mm ultrabay adaptor I bought.  It is smoking fast.  Blows the Intel Series 510 120GB drive I have right out of the water.

I've had good luck with the Crucial C300 drives I used to have.  I haven't tried the M4 and probably won't unless I run across a special need like a 1.8" drive.  All of my 1.8" drive based machines are gone now.

If you need a 7mm high case, the Sammy is probably the way to go.

[klondike_bar]

true enough about the security. I received my HDD bay from ebay today and it fits like a charm, locked and no wiggle.

the reason i had concern was the prior CD drive had a little wiggle room and a horrendous habit of hitting the eject button when the laptop was put into a carrier backpack. when this happened, i had to slide out the laptop with the cd tray dangling open which isnt good for it mechanically or optically.

i plan to get either a budget 120GB SSD or a nice 320+GB HDD, pref with hybrid tech to remove some of the boot latency for common files.