Author Topic: Laptop: DVD2HDD Adapter  (Read 2521 times)

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Online roamer_1

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Laptop: DVD2HDD Adapter
« on: August 21, 2018, 01:11:19 pm »
So the beauty bar that actuates my laptop's DVD busted pretty much off... And I was grumpily heading out to find a replacement - I never use the DVD at all, but for the sake of the integrity of the machine, that's where I was going...

But then I got to thinking... DVD is SATA, right? So maybe someone thought of making a DVD to HDD conversion... And sho nuff, they do... There's a whole bunch of em up on Amazon all of em under 15 bucks...

Has anyone else thought to use this beautiful thing?

Think SSD system drive, with a now available secondary storage drive... I have been loathe to convert this ol girl to SSD... I live out of this thing, and just my minimum DEV folder puts me completely out of SSDs merely on the argument of size... And with but a single drive bay...

But the impossible has been possible all the way along.

Do any of you have a reason why this won't be a good idea?

I am withholding my w00ts till I hear from y'all
TIA


Offline endicom

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Re: Laptop: DVD2HDD Adapter
« Reply #2 on: August 21, 2018, 02:06:43 pm »

I guess I assumed the DVD was on a slower bus. Maybe I can add an SSD to my slugtop.




Online roamer_1

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Re: Laptop: DVD2HDD Adapter
« Reply #3 on: August 21, 2018, 02:11:22 pm »
I guess I assumed the DVD was on a slower bus. Maybe I can add an SSD to my slugtop.

It may be... That'd be my concern... It IS a SATA bus, but I don't know if the MB architecture generally supports full SATA or if it is clocked down...

The adapters suggest SATA III compatibility, but I don't know if the boards do... I realize it depends on the individual board... And I guess it will cost me a twenty to find out... 

Online Elderberry

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Re: Laptop: DVD2HDD Adapter
« Reply #4 on: August 21, 2018, 02:53:47 pm »
On all of my machines it did not matter where I connected the DVD drive. So running another HD instead of your DVD drive should allow your HD to run at your full SATA bus speed.

Online roamer_1

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Re: Laptop: DVD2HDD Adapter
« Reply #5 on: August 21, 2018, 02:57:14 pm »
On all of my machines it did not matter where I connected the DVD drive. So running another HD instead of your DVD drive should allow your HD to run at your full SATA bus speed.

That is what I am hoping for... Here comes the w00ts. This is better than new underpants, and twice as handy.
 Thank you.

Offline endicom

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Re: Laptop: DVD2HDD Adapter
« Reply #6 on: August 21, 2018, 03:07:24 pm »
On all of my machines it did not matter where I connected the DVD drive. So running another HD instead of your DVD drive should allow your HD to run at your full SATA bus speed.


A laptop could be different. Reading the comments at Amazon might help.


Online roamer_1

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Re: Laptop: DVD2HDD Adapter
« Reply #7 on: August 21, 2018, 03:14:51 pm »

A laptop could be different. Reading the comments at Amazon might help.

I have another buddy on txt, and he says sata is sata. He is using one of these, and sees no difference, though he is pretty sure the drive in his is only a 5400 rpm... He is definitely sure it is operating above ATA, so assumes the dvd driver is a shim over a full sata controller.

YMMV of course... No two boards are the same.  :shrug:

Online roamer_1

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Re: Laptop: DVD2HDD Adapter
« Reply #8 on: August 21, 2018, 04:58:35 pm »
Well I bit on this one...
https://www.amazon.com/HIGHROCK-Universal-Enclosure-DVD-ROM-Optical/dp/B0177AF7OO/ref=mp_s_a_1_17?ie=UTF8&qid=1534863745&sr=8-17&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=dvd+to+hdd+adapter

And I have a spanky new 256g SSD coming too.

I will shovel it together when it gets here, run it through a hdd burn test and post results

I can't wait. 


Online DB

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Re: Laptop: DVD2HDD Adapter
« Reply #9 on: August 21, 2018, 07:59:49 pm »
Well I bit on this one...
https://www.amazon.com/HIGHROCK-Universal-Enclosure-DVD-ROM-Optical/dp/B0177AF7OO/ref=mp_s_a_1_17?ie=UTF8&qid=1534863745&sr=8-17&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=dvd+to+hdd+adapter

And I have a spanky new 256g SSD coming too.

I will shovel it together when it gets here, run it through a hdd burn test and post results

I can't wait. 



The only serious issue I've had in 7 years of running the OS on an SSD (drive C:) and my primary data storage on hard drive (OS user libraries on D:) was a Dropbox update that ignored my previous configuration of the Dropbox folder being on drive D: and tried to rebuild it on C: after the update. The Dropbox folder is my business' and is huge and overflowed drive C:... Even worse there was no obvious way to repoint Dropbox to the original folder on D: after the update. One of the very few times I had to call customer support to get it straightened out.

Online DB

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Re: Laptop: DVD2HDD Adapter
« Reply #10 on: August 21, 2018, 08:19:57 pm »
Regarding your question if I've played with one of these. No I haven't. My experience is primarily with work stations. So far laptops don't have enough horsepower to do what I use computers for. From what I can tell this is just a mechanical adapter so it should work fine if it physically fits.
« Last Edit: August 21, 2018, 08:29:28 pm by DB »

Offline Suppressed

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Re: Laptop: DVD2HDD Adapter
« Reply #11 on: August 21, 2018, 08:26:52 pm »
I'm looking forward to hearing how this turns out!
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Online roamer_1

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Re: Laptop: DVD2HDD Adapter
« Reply #12 on: August 21, 2018, 08:27:06 pm »
The only serious issue I've had in 7 years of running the OS on an SSD (drive C:) and my primary data storage on hard drive (OS user libraries on D:) was a Dropbox update that ignored my previous configuration of the Dropbox folder being on drive D: and tried to rebuild it on C: after the update. The Dropbox folder is my business' and is huge and overflowed drive C:... Even worse there was no obvious way to repoint Dropbox to the original folder on D: after the update. One of the very few times I had to call customer support to get it straightened out.

Likewise for me - All my fixed machines are running SSD system drives, and likewise I redirect SOME of the front end folders to the storage drive(s)... Generally just pics and vids, moved off the front to D:\Media\... The rest are picked up in backup or syncing, and I mainly just want the fat folders off the system drive...

But this laptop dvd to hdd adapter is a real game changer for me. My Alienware large form factor i7 laptop had two drive bays, and it spoiled me rotten, but that is the only one I have ever owned with that capability.

I ordered one to try it out, but if it works as advertised, I will order 10 more... Nobody needs a DVD onboard anymore, and every laptop from a decent quad-core on up becomes really viable if I can hang a system SSD and a storage drive in them... And I easily have 10 on the shelf...

This is a major hump in my personal get-along, and generally too... Big SSD's are too spendy to shove in an old box, and little SSDs just don't have enough room. But a small SSD and a companion large storage drive is just the ticket... And something formerly unobtainable in a laptop.

What bugs me now is that I didn't think to look for this adapter years ago.

Online roamer_1

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Re: Laptop: DVD2HDD Adapter
« Reply #13 on: August 21, 2018, 08:39:16 pm »
I'm looking forward to hearing how this turns out!

Ain't it great? I am giddy as a school girl!  :beer:

Online roamer_1

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Re: Laptop: DVD2HDD Adapter
« Reply #14 on: August 21, 2018, 08:53:42 pm »
Regarding your question if I've played with one of these. No I haven't. My experience is primarily with work stations. So far laptops don't have enough horsepower to do what I use computers for. From what I can tell this is just a mechanical adapter so it should work fine if it physically fits.

my main whip is a fair ground-pounder. One of my servers ain't bad, and the other is getting upgraded to 'ain't bad' sometime over the weekend... My test benches aren't anything special... both old quad cores... But totally capable. My thing is mainly data recovery, so I push a lot of files around, more than anything else...

But I live on the laptop. Shoot, half the time I am out on the porch running my working machines from the laptop via RDP... Right now I am in my lazyboy, and I still have at least two more hours of work...

That's another awesome thing... RDP has unchained me from the desk...