2nd Hard Drive for Ultrabay on A30

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FrankM · #1 Post by **FrankM** » Tue Oct 18, 2005 3:58 pm

I would like to get the 2nd HDD adapter and the 80 GB HD, (09N4273) or larger, (100 or 120 GB) for the ultrabay slot on my A30. Are there any models/suppliers other than the IBM models that will fit into the 2nd HDD adapter and work in the ultrabay? Or can someone explain what technical info I need to look for to find a comparable HD? $300 from IBM is a bit much for 80 GB of space.

Thank You
Frank

Deb Suran · #2 Post by **Deb Suran** » Thu Oct 20, 2005 9:21 am

A lot of us like http://www.zipzoomfly.com/ for HDDs. They have good prices on the Travelstar brand.

slagmi · #3 Post by **slagmi** » Thu Oct 20, 2005 10:39 am

I bought one of these recently off newegg - 16MB cache
they have raised the price a bit it is now 120$ shipped.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6822149020

you'll still need an ultrabay adapter if you want to use both harddirives at the same time. Have you checked prices on ebay for these yet? I'd figure forty bucks or so without the harddrive.

FrankM · #4 Post by **FrankM** » Thu Oct 20, 2005 11:53 am

Thanks for the replies and the links, like I said earlier I've spent so much time trying to figure out just what will work. I'm afraid I will buy something that won't be compatible or have the right pin connections or not match any of the other 50 specs for the unit. I've found a couple nice ones but they are ATA-6 and the spec on the IBM's are ATA-100, are they interchangeable?

Thanks Again
Frank

slagmi · #5 Post by **slagmi** » Thu Oct 20, 2005 9:38 pm

Hi Frank

The terms ata-6 and ata/100 are interchangable

Pin configurations are standard across modern notebooks (excepting sata, a.k.a. serial ata-1 and also referred to sometimes as sata/150) which is not physically compatible with your notebook.

Your a30 won't be picky, though there is no way to guarantee that absolutely any drive you buy will work. But it should. You may have read here of some problems reported with t43's and upgrade hard drives. I don't expect you will find any such issues with your a30.

FrankM · #6 Post by **FrankM** » Fri Oct 21, 2005 10:14 pm

Thanks Everyone!!

I've come up with the list of items I'm going to order, if you see something that isn't correct or can suggest a better option please let me know.
1. Toshiba Slim MK1032GAX 100GB 5400rpm 16MB Cache Notebook Hard Drive I think I will mount it as the primary HDD and take the 20GB that came with the A30 and put it in one of the Ultrabay's, replace it later if there is not enough space to hold a nights worth of images.
2. Ultrabay 2nd HDD
3. Syba SD-PCB-USB 2.0 PCMCIA Card 2X USB 2.0
4. Sabrent SBT-UHPA USB 2.0 High Speed External 4 port hub with power adapter
5. Two - Kingmax 512MB 144-Pin SO-DIMM PC133 Notebook Memory model# MSGC23S
6. IBM Thinkpad Ultrabay 2000 8X DVD-RW, 24X CD-RW, CDRW DVD

#7 Post by **daeojkim** » Fri Oct 21, 2005 11:28 pm

I Frank,

Everything sounds good except the Toshiba HD. Altough the 16MB cache is impressive cache size when most have only 8 MB, benchmarks have shown that it is actually a poor performer.

So unless you have found it at a very good price compared to other 100GB HD's I would recommend other brands by Hitachi or Seagate.

JK

FrankM · #8 Post by **FrankM** » Sat Oct 22, 2005 9:52 pm

How about the Travelstar 5K100 HTS541010G9ATOO 100 GB 5400 rpm 8MB cache?

#9 Post by **daeojkim** » Sat Oct 22, 2005 10:42 pm

FrankM wrote:How about the Travelstar 5K100 HTS541010G9ATOO 100 GB 5400 rpm 8MB cache?

This should be better than Toshiba.

I would also recommend Seagate 5400.2 100GB HD. I am using it and I have been very pleased with it. It comes with 5 year warranty as well.

JK

FrankM · #10 Post by **FrankM** » Sat Oct 29, 2005 9:33 am

I've got everything ordered and it will be here Monday, I ordered everything on my list but substituted a Hitachi 100GB 5400 rpm HDD for the Toshiba, and I didn't order the CD/DVD yet. I'm still under $450 for everything so far.

Instead of getting the CD/DVD, (cost is $160) I was thinking about networking the A30 with my Dell desktop which has a CD/DVD. I've been researching the network connection, seems either Ethernet or wireless are the easiest ways to go with only 2 computers in the network, don't need a hub, router..... My laptop has an Ethernet card but my home PC does not. I'm thinking of going wireless so that I can set it up with the telescope outside and connect with the desktop inside without running a 100 ft cable. On the XP homepage is says wireless will cost about $100 a computer to connect. Any advice on doing this would be appreciated.

Can you also share software on the computers? I would like to have Microsoft Office on the laptop but really don't want to load it on the laptop.

MadeInJapan · #11 Post by **MadeInJapan** » Sat Oct 29, 2005 9:47 am

Someone mentioned Toshiba drives....Just about every student of our's HDD that fails out of their numerous name-branded laptops are Toshiba's....I wouldn't trust a Toshiba HDD in my worst enemy's laptop....AVOID these at all costs.

2nd Hard Drive for Ultrabay on A30

2nd Hard Drive for Ultrabay on A30

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