Replace Old Laptop Drive

WD Internal Drives Desktop & Mobile Drives
1

I have a laptop with a WD600VE HDD and want to upgrade to an SSD.

But the pin confidguration is different to the current SSD standard.

Adaptors are available that convert SSDs to fit the old pin arrangment but being in a laptop there is not room.

Is there an SSD available  with the same configuration as the old WD600VE ?

2

Take a photo of the old connector and post it here, but it sounds like you have an IDE laptop which will not accept SSDs.

3

It is as you say. There are adaptors available which convert the standard SSD connection to this configuration, however, they need another half inch in length and laptops being snug don’t have the space.

Thanks for your response

WD600.jpg

4

In a desktop there is plenty of room for adapters, but you’d have to perform surgery on your laptop to allow for an adapter to fit. The other problem is that your laptop will only run at IDE speed due to the motherboard. In other words, using an SSD would only allow you to maximize IDE speed which is about the same as SATA I (1.5 Gbit/s). Here is your only practical solution: use an adapter but have the actual drive residing outside the case (yes, a real pain). If you do that, buy a cheap SSD because the faster speeds of the best ones are unattainable in your situation. There are external cases for 2.5" drives which offer eSATA connections, but you’d have to make sure you bought the right cable. But do you really want to spend almost $100 on an old laptop?

UPDATE: If you can find an mSATA to IDE adapter, you might be able to cobble together an internal arrangement using an mSATA drive which is smaller than the usual SSD, but first check all measurements, separate and combined. I would not do it, however, given that you might buy all of the parts and then discover a problem.

5

Hi, indeed there is no need to invest 100+ dollars on an old computer which supports EIDE, I bought a lenovo x60 (old 10 inches laptop) for 49, the hard drive caddy for 4, a charger for 9 a battery for 13 and memory for 30 (4 Gigs) that $105, and I had a SSD drive laying around and its being my portable laptop for over 6 months.

6

The moral of the moderator’s story is that one must first verify that the drive type is SATA, preferably at least SATA II (3.0 Gbit/s).

7

Thanks PC-Cobbler and Moderator for the information and advice.

I guess the old unit will stay as it is. I only use it when off camping in the motorhome because if it gets damaged it would be no loss. The wireless broadband is usually pretty ordinary anyway so speed is not a big issue.