HDD Caddy replacing Optical drive bay in laptops

Hardware Other Hardware
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I just wondering if anyone has any experience with these? Of course not my specific laptop, but just the concept.

https://www.newmodeus.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=559

I’m kinda running out of space on the main SSD (240GB) and am loathed to by a 512’ish GB replacement. I can always put the ‘old’ 240GB in a USB caddy, not a very good use of quite an expensive item though.

Thanks!

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Slimline adapters should be fine. Slimline SATA drops the 12V and 3.3V power pins from the connector, leaving 5V only, but the data pins are the exact same as any regular SATA device. So when it comes to replacing an optical drive with storage the adapter is pretty much just a straight pass through.

Only thing is that the slimline SATA only supports up to 3 Gbps (SATA II), so any modern SSD will be bottlenecked by the interface.

EDIT: As of the SATA 3.0 specs I should mention.

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Oy! I have a 250 Gigabyte HDD that I still have problems filling up with 3,000+ packages upon BunsenLabs. Let alone imagining the material required to fill anything as large as you or other Members make mention of.

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I have an Akasa and a startech branded caddy in front of me, both work fine, each was like, less than £20.
I’d say low cost punt, easy to try.

Most CD drives that will be replaced have a standard sata data bit, and reduced pin power part (as W.Meri mentioned), but some older laptops do have a slightly different connector, so just double check first

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I used one in an older dell laptop and it worked fine. There’s really no difference between the interface for your optical drive and normal sata drives unless if you have some quack job of a laptop.

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Also, if you replace the CD-ROM drive, you can get a cheap usb cable, and voila! A light external CD/DVD drive, because why waste a 5 1/4” bay that you can use a HDD dock for?

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The only thing I’d mention is the cost to your battery if that matters to you. Unless you use an SSD the power consumption kills your battery, at least in my experience. Not at all against it (used one myself) just something to keep in mind

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Very excellent info there, thank you very much and a very useful headsup. :+1:

Hard drives can be used for lots of things, some take more space, some take less space (like yours). My larger data is only due to videos, photographs, 3D models, textures, components, etc., because I design Building Alterations, new houses and small residential estates, as well as industrial units.

Hopefully it’ll sooth your soul to know that my ‘bread and butter’ CAD files are only as follows:
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:smiley:

Thank you mate, very handy contribution. :+1:

Hopefully not, the link showed it being called a “E-Modular” device, which is promising (I’ve got an ‘old’ Dell M2800 BTW)

The Money Saving Expert at it’s best, nice one! :+1:

That’s a VERY fair point, luckily I was thinking of getting an SSD. Perhaps if I’m away from power, I should disconnect it. Good call mate :+1:

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God bless old Martin Lewis, and his crusades for consumers!

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He’s a good egg, although I used to get him confused with Kevin McCloud…a young Kevin McCloud :slight_smile:

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