Laptop Hard Drive Upgrade??

[MikeO]

Hi everyone,

Is it possible to upgrade the memory on a laptop? My Time laptop (18 months old with a 40Gb HDD) currently has 7% free space, so I need to get some more memory (ideally making a total of 100Gb or so - I intend to take a lot more pics ).

Is it possible to install a larger HDD - no snags with a desktop, I know, but will I be able to get one to fit in the available space in a laptop case??

Failing that, what are the alternatives? I know there are external drives which I can get which would provide me with extra memory, but what type? - what would the panel recommend?

Mike

 

[richie]

Mike surely you're in the country that should be able to answer those questions and at a fraction of the UK price. If it was me I'd burn a cd once a week and delete the photos you have saved to CD. Saying this I'd probably burn 2CD at a time to make sure...

Let us know how you get on. I am sure in the states you'll find shops willing to open your portable to change the drive.

 

[Deleted account 220427002]

what about buying a mp3 player that also lets you store pics etc.

http://reviews.cnet.com/Music/4502-6497_7-0.html?tag=pageNav&orderby=9lwPrc&qt=

http://www.techtv.com/products/consumerelectronics/story/0,23008,3376462,00.html

http://www.mp3players.co.uk/site/uk/archos_gmini220_20gb.html


http://www.advancedmp3players.co.uk...3&usersessid=4de2a18b59d3d0c9b78d47e5ab9de3a0


http://www.swcp.com/~manos/mp3Players.html

two jobs in one!!!

i also side with ritchie on this. burn it off to discs would be cheap and endless storage

 

[MikeO]

Mike surely you're in the country that should be able to answer those questions and at a fraction of the UK price.

Yes Richie, but when I went out into the parking lot and shouted the question, I got no answer ...

I just wanted to know if it was a feasible proposition on a laptop - I'm quite sure I can get good value over here, I'm just not going to ask a salesman for advice without some research first...

Tuned, I've got an iPod but, for ease of use, I'd prefer to upgrade the HDD...

thanks for the replies...

Mike

 

[AdamZ]

There are a number of super slim external USB or Firewire drives than you may wish to consider as an alternative. I use a 20Gb Pockey Drive (cost £200 from PC World) and a 60Gb Pockey Drive. For the most I keep infrequently used data on the 60GB drive and Frequently used data on the 20Gb Drive.

I use FolderMatch as a synchronisation tool to synch data on the USB drives and the Laptop. Because of this I can easily swap between any machine. I started this path basically because Laptops don't last that long with me ( I think it is the one fingered typing !) and I cannot afford not to have instant access.

There are a number of new generation drives coming out now with Image capabilities but in the most the reasonable cost ones are in the order of 20Gb. These are similar to the Archos but now more compact. Look out for Nikon (Cool Walker MSV-01) or the Grandisk 40GB HDD with MP3/WAV etc or the APLUX USB2.0 Portable Storage / US01N which also has a CF Card reader. Transcend Japan have just released a 40Gb USB 2 drive that is 72x95x15mm and weighs 130gm. IRiver are also releasing a number of MP3 capable external drives.

 

[Cheesy Mike]

Mike,

As you are in the USA, get yourself down to a Circuit City and check out the portable external USB hard drives - companies like LaCie make nice ones which are ultra small and ruggedised for the frequent traveller. Internal upgrades are easy - you are looking for 2" rather than 3.5" drives though. Bear in mind this would involve a complete re-install of all your operating system, data and applications as most laptops don't have room for two drives. Final hard drive option is to buy the 3.5 disk of your choice and put it into a custom external enclosure - again you see lots of these in US electronics shops.

The other alternative is, like somebody else has mentioned, an external CD-RW or DVD+/-RW drive. There are some very nice ultra portable ones around. You then have the luxury of backing up your photos. As you are travelling what I would recommend is making two copies of every backup disk then every couple of weeks post one copy of the backups back to the UK. That way if your laptop is ever stolen or trashed your precious memories are not lost. I'm in the USA from Monday for 12 days so I'm happy to scout around any electronic shops if you want recommendations. They San Francisco bay area where I'll be is awash with great gadget shops - most nobably being Frys Electronics (www.outpost.com) - they are also quite happy to ship to non-US residents at hotel addresses - I've done this before.


regards,

Mike

 

[MikeO]

Fixed!

Just bought a Pocketec Datastor USB 2.0 Portable Hard Drive...

...from USB Discount in the USA (book of matches for scale). 60Gb - powered through the USB port - $310 delivered (£180ish) - very fast transfer - excellent!

Mike

 

[jimbo]

CR RW

If you want a cheap solution, have you thought of an external CD writer. these are dead cheap and you can keep your photos on CD.
J

 

[MikeO]

Re: CR RW

If you want a cheap solution, have you thought of an external CD writer. these are dead cheap and you can keep your photos on CD.
J

Already got one, built into the laptop, but I wanted ready access, rather than the fuss of finding/loading/reading the right CD ROM...

Mike