SSD on Thinkpad T400s

[Sindbad]

Few step from buying 64 SSD for my T400s

Will this model work with T400s?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Samsung-Th ... 415aa6d771

thanks

[Brad]

Yes it should work just fine as it is the correct form factor.

Brad

[Sindbad]

thanks Brad

[Sindbad]

Just ordered it, hopefully will get it soon.

I was just wondering do I need anything else to install it? I'm going to switch my current HDD with this SSD, i don't need a HD Caddy for it. Is that right?

[mnowell69]

If your original HDD had a caddy, you will need a caddy for the new SSD. The drives are the same size.

[ChugokuOtaku]

what a coincidence...

the seller, CedarPC, is actually a local store near where I work, and I was actually in their store looking at this EXACT SSD.

Couple things I thought I should point out:

1. the SSD is unshelled. You're only getting the bare PCB, not sure how it would be secured in a caddy.

2. an ex-coworker of mine has a 128gig version of this, and it only scored a 5.9 on WEI, which is extremely poor for SSDs. I can't remember the exact numbers, but I remember it being one of the worst I've seen when I benched it with HD Tach and ATTO.

that being said however, I'm actually planning on buying this for an old T42, since just about any SSD is better than those IDE 7200rpm drives of its day.

[mnowell69]

there i was thinking a t42 used PATA. Did you modify your T42??

[ChugokuOtaku]

there i was thinking a t42 used PATA. Did you modify your T42??

http://www.shapeways.com/model/254626/2 ... tml?gid=mg

[Sindbad]

what a coincidence...

the seller, CedarPC, is actually a local store near where I work, and I was actually in their store looking at this EXACT SSD.

Couple things I thought I should point out:

1. the SSD is unshelled. You're only getting the bare PCB, not sure how it would be secured in a caddy.

2. an ex-coworker of mine has a 128gig version of this, and it only scored a 5.9 on WEI, which is extremely poor for SSDs. I can't remember the exact numbers, but I remember it being one of the worst I've seen when I benched it with HD Tach and ATTO.

that being said however, I'm actually planning on buying this for an old T42, since just about any SSD is better than those IDE 7200rpm drives of its day.

Just received it, and YES you're right my friend this comes unshelled, I have no idea how am I going to install it into my laptop this evening.
I don't really trust numbers of WEI and they don't mean anything to me, anything will be faster than my current 5400rmp.

[mnowell69]

judging by the figures, i wouldn't have thought that the SSD would be quicker than a 7200rpm HDD. Will be interested to see how it goes, so i could think about playing with my T41.

[ChugokuOtaku]

judging by the figures, i wouldn't have thought that the SSD would be quicker than a 7200rpm HDD. Will be interested to see how it goes, so i could think about playing with my T41.

Take a look here
something I never thought possible at the time, but the main bottleneck on those T4x in the end turned out to be the CPU itself... lol

I don't really trust numbers of WEI and they don't mean anything to me, anything will be faster than my current 5400rmp.

WEI is a logarithmic scale. While it may not give you a good idea of the raw performance of your drive, it does give you a rough idea of how it compares to others. Most mechanical drives top out at 5.9, including my 300gig Velociraptor. This is why I site the Samsung SSD being poor, because other than my 64gig Kingspec in my x41, no other SSD I've used have ever scored below 6.5, including those crappy Kingston drives with jmicron controllers. But you're right, just about any DRIVE, mechanical or not, will do better than a 5400rpm 2.5"

The 64gig Crucial M4 that I installed in my T420s scored a perfect 7.9, and it indeed brought me the absolute fastest boot/load time of any SSD I've played around with.

[Sindbad]

This is Micro SATA 1.8 and T400s Uses regular SATA 1.8 the pins are different and I wasn't been able to connect it

So, Brad you were wrong pins are different.

Seller does not accept returns, ChugokuOtaku if you feel like buying it I can sell it to you for $75 shipped, PayPal, otherwise I will have to sell it on ebay.

[ChugokuOtaku]

This is Micro SATA 1.8 and T400s Uses regular SATA 1.8 the pins are different and I wasn't been able to connect it

So, Brad you were wrong pins are different.

Seller does not accept returns, ChugokuOtaku if you feel like buying it I can sell it to you for $75 shipped, PayPal, otherwise I will have to sell it on ebay.

PM sent

This is very unusual. I always thought that T400s used standard 1.8" microSATA connector interface. I wasn't even aware that there are 1.8" drives(mechanical or not) that used the full spec SATA interface.

[ChugokuOtaku]

made a trip to the store today, and unfortunately you were 100% right.
Dell basically made a non-standard 1.8" SSD that has a full spec SATA connector, as opposed to the standard microSATA for that form factor(another good reason to avoid Dell). Either way, the guy at the store refused to let me bench the SSD, saying I'd have to buy it to test it(basically wanted to charge me 15% just to test the stupid drive).

Sindbad, since you already own the drive, is it possible for you to bench it on a desktop and post the specs here? I realized that you should have a very easy time selling the unit to anyone building an HTPC or just a basic web browsing desktop, since no adapter is needed.

[underclocker]

Would someone please provide some clarity on the type of drive the T400s uses. I actually have a T400s that I upgraded with an Intel X18 SSD, but now I'm confused. (Although, I'm pretty sure that the T400s uses a standard Micro SATA connector. I think the OP mistakenly purchased a Dell drive with a proprietary connector.)

These two statements seem to contradict each other. Also the OP mentions a "regular SATA 1.8", but I'm not sure what that means or if it exists. Is the Lenovo non-standard or was the SSD the OP purchased non-standard (and therefore, not micro-sata?)

This is Micro SATA 1.8 and T400s Uses regular SATA 1.8

made a trip to the store today, and unfortunately you were 100% right.
Dell basically made a non-standard 1.8" SSD that has a full spec SATA connector, as opposed to the standard microSATA for that form factor(another good reason to avoid Dell).

Intel's documentation indicates that the connecor is Micro SATA (Actually, in looking at the eBay ad, the seller never claimed the drive was Micro SATA, it just says SATA.)

The 1.8” Intel X18-M SATA SSD connector is compliant to the micro SATA SFF-8144 specification

[Sindbad]

OK, Bellow is the picture of T400s current hard drive and next to it the SSD that i bought. Sorry, yes, T400s uses "micro Sata", but the one that I bought is called "thin sata" which has regular SATA Connection pins.

[underclocker]

Great, thanks for the picture, that helps quite a bit!

To summarize, the T400s does take the industry standard micro SATA 1.8" connector hard drives.

(To Sinbad, you should correct your For Sale ad in the forum marketplace to reflect that the drive you are selling is NOT micro SATA, but a proprietary Dell SATA connector - otherwise, someone else will go through your frustrating experience.)

[Brad]

Sorry to lead you in the wrong direction.

The auction stated 1.8" uSATA which is what your ThinkPad uses. I looked at the auction again just now and I would still say it would work because I still missed that it has no shell.

I have Lenovo T400s SSD's in capacities of 64Gb to 256Gb available and can drop one off at a steep discount for my error.

Sorry again.

Brad

[Sindbad]

To Sinbad, you should correct your For Sale ad in the forum marketplace to reflect that the drive you are selling is NOT micro SATA, but a proprietary Dell SATA connector - otherwise, someone else will go through your frustrating experience.)

Just did it.


Brad It's OK, things happen PM sent