Changing an HDD to an SSD?

**KingFu** · 02-20-2012, 03:58 AM

Need some computer help (shocker, huh?) and I thought this was a better place than any, as a lot of people seem to be knowledgeable in this area. So, long story short, the laptop I'm looking to buy has a 750GB HDD hard drive, and I'd sooner have a 256 (or 128) SSD. I'm wondering about a few things.

1) How much would the SSD cost if I got a decent+ 256 or 128GB? Most I've found online for a 256 seemed to be 300-400, but I'm not sure that I'm looking in the right place.

2) I know some laptops have an SSD, and HDD hard drive, is it possible to modify a laptop to have both? Would it be necessary to? I was told it increases boot/launch time by quite a bit.

3) How hard would this surgery be? Is it just a matter of swapping one thing out with another? Or is it a big old process requiring multiple parts and tools that I can screw up easily? (Note: I'm not very familiar with the insides of laptops). I've seen people swap a 128GB SSD with a 256, but never an HDD with an SSD.

As you can probably tell, I don't know much about computers lol, so all help is very appreciated.

**NECROREAPER** · 02-20-2012, 05:22 AM

Don't do it yourself. It's essentially swapping out the brain of your computer, and no one likes a messed up brain, lol.

As far as prices go for SSD's, they are rather expensive ATM, but their benefits are just as numerous as the dollars that they cost.

**mackjack** · 02-20-2012, 06:34 AM

1) Roughly $400 for a 256GB SSD sounds about right for a name-brand SSD (e.g. Samsung).

2) Depends if your laptop has slots for 2 fixed drives. For space reasons, newer laptops typically can hold only 1 fixed drive. If I were you, I'd just replace your HDD with an SSD. If you need extra storage space, just get a SATA to USB cable and use your old HDD as an external drive.

I bet it's the older laptops that had both HDD and SDD. Back then, SDD are even more expensive than they are now, so some manufactures used a small SDD for performance, while keeping a big HDD to store the bulk of the data and programs. Nowadays with sizable SDD, there really is no good reason to have both in your laptop.

3) Again, this depends on your laptop. The good thing is that both HDD and SDD should have the same form factor and connector. So if you can get to your laptop's drive bay, it's a simple matter to swap them. On some laptops this is easy (just remove a cover on the back); on some laptops this is a huge pain and require removing multiple pieces. If you aren't sure, I'd suggest you let a shop do it.

4) One last thing to keep in mind: it might be more economical to simply buy a laptop that already comes with an SSD instead of spending another $400 to swap it.

**KingFu** · 02-20-2012, 01:14 PM

Alright, thanks! The laptop I'm planning to get makes it so it's easily accessable, and removable. Right on the top after you remove the first panel, next to the battery. I would get one with an SSD hard drive already, but my options are limited as I'm stuck with $700 dollars of it being on a gift card, so I have to combine it with cash and purchase the laptop at where the giftcard is for, which has few options compared to places like Best Buy. For 400 I'm a bit hesitant, so I'll think about it

**StompArtist** · 02-20-2012, 01:50 PM

Originally Posted by Mysticaldream

Need some computer help (shocker, huh?) and I thought this was a better place than any, as a lot of people seem to be knowledgeable in this area. So, long story short, the laptop I'm looking to buy has a 750GB HDD hard drive, and I'd sooner have a 256 (or 128) SSD. I'm wondering about a few things.

1) How much would the SSD cost if I got a decent+ 256 or 128GB? Most I've found online for a 256 seemed to be 300-400, but I'm not sure that I'm looking in the right place.

2) I know some laptops have an SSD, and HDD hard drive, is it possible to modify a laptop to have both? Would it be necessary to? I was told it increases boot/launch time by quite a bit.

3) How hard would this surgery be? Is it just a matter of swapping one thing out with another? Or is it a big old process requiring multiple parts and tools that I can screw up easily? (Note: I'm not very familiar with the insides of laptops). I've seen people swap a 128GB SSD with a 256, but never an HDD with an SSD.

As you can probably tell, I don't know much about computers lol, so all help is very appreciated.

What's your laptop as it stands now?

**KingFu** · 02-20-2012, 01:58 PM

Originally Posted by StompArtist

What's your laptop as it stands now?

I currently don't have one, other than my 3-4 year old HP that's collecting dust. I'm looking at a few but the one I'm taking interest in is an HP Envy 15 series. It at has a 750GB HDD Hard drive. I believe there are models that already have an SSD built in, however the retailer I have to purchase from doesn't carry that model and doesn't plan to, so I'm just getting an idea of how much it'd even out to entirely.

**StompArtist** · 02-20-2012, 02:05 PM

Originally Posted by Mysticaldream

I currently don't have one, other than my 3-4 year old HP that's collecting dust. I'm looking at a few but the one I'm taking interest in is an HP Envy 15 series. It at has a 750GB HDD Hard drive. I believe there are models that already have an SSD built in, however the retailer I have to purchase from doesn't carry that model and doesn't plan to, so I'm just getting an idea of how much it'd even out to entirely.

Sorry I can't really help. Never even used an HP. If there are models with an SSD, you could just order the same model and part number for the SSD.

Dunno if these coupons are still current but check this out as well: http://couponpal.com/coupon-code-lis...rSg&aoid=35252

**Otukura** · 02-20-2012, 03:47 PM

Assuming this is it, there are two 1.8" drive bays. There are plenty of videos out there showing how, I doubt you'd have a hard time. Only thing I'd reccomend, is to make sure you have your SSD as the boot drive. Transfer windows over using something like Acronis/EaseUS. Keep the HDD for data, SSD for boot. With the SSD as your main drive, set W7 to not do it's default defragmenting, b/c SSDs have a low read/write amount. You won't notice too much of a difference between a SSD and a HDD after 4 years, so people generally replace them.

edit: honestly, a 60gb ssd is fine for just booting, if you use your hdd for storage.

another edit: read your part about having both drives increasing the boot time by quite a bit, I can't believe anyone would say that. SSDs will boot up almost instantly(mine is about a 6 second boot from power button to log on screen), and even after the boot up, the access times are much lower when trying to access programs while windows is still loading.

**mackjack** · 02-20-2012, 10:09 PM

Hate to be a party pooper, but hp laptops don't exactly have a sterling reputation for quality... For $1500-ish (after you make the SSD upgrade), I'd consider something else.

And you know this is coming: get a Mac

**StompArtist** · 02-20-2012, 10:33 PM

ASUS ROG laptop. Check them out.

**KingFu** · 02-21-2012, 05:50 AM

Originally Posted by mackjack

Hate to be a party pooper, but hp laptops don't exactly have a sterling reputation for quality... For $1500-ish (after you make the SSD upgrade), I'd consider something else.

And you know this is coming: get a Mac

The HP I'm planning to get is the 3040NR (IIRC), which is basically the MacBook Pro copy for windows (you could mistake one for the other easily). I've looked around at other laptops, some Samsung series, Lenovos, etc. and didn't find any I liked as much. Not really a big Mac fan, so trying to stay away from there, and build quality to me is a huge factor so the aluminum body on the HP works well

Thanks for the help btw guys. Appreciate it.