Hard Disk for Thinkpad R51

timwhit

timwhit

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I need to order a new hard disk for a Thinkpad R51, does anyone know if this is PATA or SATA? I believe it's PATA, but want to be sure.

Also, what size drive fits in this model?
 
With PATA you are now fairly limited.

Do you require/want higher capacity?

If you don't need high capacity and plan on keeping the laptop for more than a year, consider buying a 5.4k HDD, use that as an external drive backup, and install the new Sandisk PATA G3 series when they come out mid-year...costlier than any HDD, but you'll get a nice performance boost up to the limit of the bandwidth of the ata standard (as these new Sandisk PATA SSD's far exceed the bandwidth all ata standards).

160GB Samsung, or 250GB Western Digital (<listed @link below for the Samsung) are the last of the higher density 5.4k rpm PATA drives. With few exceptions they should perform as well as 1st gen 7.2k PATA's...*all* newer gen 7.2k's are SATA AFAIK. Also, IIRC the 1st gen 100GB 7.2k 2.5in drives where noisier and hotter (less power efficient)

Pretty sure the Samsung is a higher density single platter.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...tails/175-1650314-0111648?ie=UTF8&me=&seller=
 
udaman said:
With PATA you are now fairly limited.

Do you require/want higher capacity?

If you don't need high capacity and plan on keeping the laptop for more than a year, consider buying a 5.4k HDD, use that as an external drive backup, and install the new Sandisk PATA G3 series when they come out mid-year...costlier than any HDD, but you'll get a nice performance boost up to the limit of the bandwidth of the ata standard (as these new Sandisk PATA SSD's far exceed the bandwidth all ata standards).

160GB Samsung, or 250GB Western Digital (<listed @link below for the Samsung) are the last of the higher density 5.4k rpm PATA drives. With few exceptions they should perform as well as 1st gen 7.2k PATA's...*all* newer gen 7.2k's are SATA AFAIK. Also, IIRC the 1st gen 100GB 7.2k 2.5in drives where noisier and hotter (less power efficient)

Pretty sure the Samsung is a higher density single platter.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...tails/175-1650314-0111648?ie=UTF8&me=&seller=
Click to expand...

Is there any reason the R51 wouldn't support a drive larger than 80GB? That's what the spec said. The Samsung drive looks good. If the notebook will support it then I'll probably get that.

This is my Dad's laptop. It came with a 30GB drive, it's basically full and it runs extremely slow. So, I want to get something big enough that I never have to worry about it again.
 
timwhit said:
Is there any reason the R51 wouldn't support a drive larger than 80GB? That's what the spec said. The Samsung drive looks good. If the notebook will support it then I'll probably get that.

This is my Dad's laptop. It came with a 30GB drive, it's basically full and it runs extremely slow. So, I want to get something big enough that I never have to worry about it again.
Click to expand...

Hmm, I suppose your father will never need more than 160GB...even with Winblows bloatware ver. 7 installed :D. Do a search on the Samsung, plenty of places selling them (maybe zipzoomfly?), they don't cost much, so it's a good replacement.

Not sure about a 80GB capacity limit? Perhaps that was the largest available at the time (though it would have been 100GB, I should think??? ...come to think of it, 80GB used to be the highest capacity eons ago ;) ). On very old Mac's pre-2002, there was a 137GB limit, which you could get around with a simple hack.

Don't suppose your father will ever want to edit HD from a consumer camcorder? That could fill up such a drive, but an older laptop doesn't have a CPU/GPU/mem system to have enough punch to edit such video...got to get a new one :(.
 
That page was last updated in 2005 and probably only includes models IBM/Lenovo marketed at the time. It would merely include models they offered or supported.

I don't see why a larger disk wouldn't work. Of course there could be some BIOS limitation at 128, 256, or some other GB level but I somewhat doubt it and wouldn't hesitate to give it a go for at least a 120GB model.

That said, if it's taken this long to fill a 30GB drive, an 80 would probably be fine for a few years. Save some money on the internal HD and get a second drive for him to use for backups.
 
That would be the 250GB WD. I bought a couple of them. The performance increase over a 120GB drive, for example, is quite noticeable. However, many older notebooks suffered from the dreaded 128GB LBA limit even long after the issue had been resolved on desktop systems. If the notebook was never offered with a 160GB drive it may not see the full capacity.
 
I have four of those, now relegated to the great pile of unused drives. That drive is particularly smooth and quiet, but not fast.
 
LunarMist said:
I have four of those, now relegated to the great pile of unused drives. That drive is particularly smooth and quiet, but not fast.
Click to expand...

My Dad will be using it, he just surfs the web. So, speed wasn't a big concern as long as it is faster than the 30GB drive that came with the laptop.
 
timwhit said:
My Dad will be using it, he just surfs the web. So, speed wasn't a big concern as long as it is faster than the 30GB drive that came with the laptop.
Click to expand...

True, won't be as fast as a newest gen 7.2k rpm drive, but I'll bet any current 5.4k drive will *seem* like it's 2x as fast as that older 30GB drive.

As already noted, the much more expensive <$200 Sandisk SSD's coming out mid-year, would 'feel' much more peppy, but is it really worth the cost?

Upgrade the HD for minimum cost, and then replace the entire laptop for next year's or later lower-priced model, that's where the performance gains will be most apparent. You'll also get a next gen LED backlit screen, which will be *noticeable*.
 
udaman said:
True, won't be as fast as a newest gen 7.2k rpm drive, but I'll bet any current 5.4k drive will *seem* like it's 2x as fast as that older 30GB drive.

As already noted, the much more expensive <$200 Sandisk SSD's coming out mid-year, would 'feel' much more peppy, but is it really worth the cost?

Upgrade the HD for minimum cost, and then replace the entire laptop for next year's or later lower-priced model, that's where the performance gains will be most apparent. You'll also get a next gen LED backlit screen, which will be *noticeable*.
Click to expand...

I highly doubt he will replace it in a year. It is still quite usable for his needs. He will probably keep it at least a few more years or until it breaks.
 
My old Dell Latitude D800 has a Hitachi IDE 60GB 7200 RPM drive from around 2004 or 2005. Only about 15GB are in use. The laptop is a 2GHz CPU with 1GB RAM and is running XP SP3. Of late the whole machine has been getting slower and slower. I've run CCleaner, uninstalled anything extra, and defragged. It is mainly used on battery but the slowness is just as apparent under AC.

It seems like it spends too much time doing disk I/O so I'm considering an upgrade. Options I've come up with include:
1. Transcend 64GB SSD @ $180. No competiton for the Vertex or Intel units, but the laptop doesn't do SATA. The read times are comparable to what HD Tach reports for the drive (24-32MB/s) but the near-elimination of latency should improve response time.
2. WD 5400 RPM 320GB PATA @ $90. Slower spindle speed but more than one generation newer and I could short-stroke it down to 40 or 60GB.
3. Live with it and start saving for a new machine.

While my wife is the main user of the PC, it technically belongs to my employer. If I replace the HD, I plan to set it aside to put back in it should I ever have to return the unit.

Thoughts? Would I be crazy to spend nearly $200, or even $90ish on yesterday's tech if it means it's useful for another year or so?
 
Unless you have done a clean re-install, that would be first on my list.

An SSD has given more than one older laptop a new lease on life, but I wouldn't go lower than the Vertex...the 'lag' issues can get pretty unbearable.
 
Run away from that Transcend SSD. I tried one in an older Dell notebook I had and the extreme slowness of certain things that were write intensive drove me nuts despite its speed in other areas. I replaced it with a short stroked PATA 320GB WD and am much happier.
 
One thing I'd like to point out is all the MLC SSDs that have poor write performance can be "fixed" to work fine with MS SteadyState. I understand it's not a great solution for everyone, but it's been working fine for me for months.
 
Given Stereodude's comment, I'll drop the Transcend. I just wish there were better ATA SSD options out there.

So, WD or wait & get a new machine ..
 
ddrueding said:
Unless you have done a clean re-install, that would be first on my list.

An SSD has given more than one older laptop a new lease on life, but I wouldn't go lower than the Vertex...the 'lag' issues can get pretty unbearable.
Click to expand...

Which controller, which SSD, which OS...all are important, IIRC from reading on ...can't remember? Is that a reference to the older JMicron controllers? Be more specific or it's not a useful comment.

As the anandtech article pointed out, OCZ uses both indilinx and samsung controllers (depends on model), but that neither of those under more demanding situations (that many may not encounter) work as well as the Intel SSD's

timwhit said:
One thing I'd like to point out is all the MLC SSDs that have poor write performance can be "fixed" to work fine with MS SteadyState. I understand it's not a great solution for everyone, but it's been working fine for me for months.
Click to expand...

Fushigi said:
Given Stereodude's comment, I'll drop the Transcend. I just wish there were better ATA SSD options out there.

So, WD or wait & get a new machine ..
Click to expand...

Suppose it depends on the OS, and the controller in the SSD. Transcend uses what brand, JMicron's older controller? Or indilinx?

Sandisk's vaporware G3 series SSDs PATA might appear this summer. At least they may have better support than those lesser known brands like Runcore (even if that company has supposedly been in business for a decade).

Or you could what a month or more for the price to lower on the 32GB (you said you're only using 15) and try a Runcore @same price as the 64GB Transcend. No specs on the PATA version, just announced to go on sale @end of month August, but the SATA version is fast.

May 7th entry, not sure what the 3month reference is to...Trim support in W7? Go look at the anandtech article, Trim doesn't completely alleviate the issues of more modern SSD's like the Intel (latest firmware) or Indilinx controllers.

http://www.tweaktown.com/articles/2753/the_raid_0_ssd_report_intel_vs_runcore/index7.html

<a href='http://www.tweaktown.com/phpadsnew/www/delivery/ck.php?n=a695f25f' target='_blank'><img src='http://www.tweaktown.com/phpadsnew/www/delivery/avw.php?zoneid=186&amp;n=a695f25f' border='0' alt='' /></a>
As it sits now the Intel X25-M 10 channel controller is still the performance king and it looks like it will retain that crown for at least another three months. The new Indilinx controller is a solid competitor but when it comes to absolute best performance Intel is still the way to go.
RunCore has a solid product in the Pro IV drives. They are much faster than the JMicron drives we tested in the past and do not require hours of OS optimization to become usable. Just like in our stand alone review of the Pro IV series, the price is difficult to swallow when compared to Intel’s consumer drives. In time the price will come down.
Click to expand...


:diablo:

http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/28...onster_v5_256gb_solid_state_disk/index10.html

<a href='http://www.tweaktown.com/phpadsnew/www/delivery/ck.php?n=a16a3586' target='_blank'><img src='http://www.tweaktown.com/phpadsnew/www/delivery/avw.php?zoneid=15&amp;n=a16a3586' border='0' alt='' /></a>
Exclusive Review of PhotoFast’s G-Monster V5 256GB Solid State Disk

Print | Email | Buy | Font Size: A A
Author: Chris Ramseyer Posted: 13 hours, 56 mins Ago


Vote: Thumbs Down or Thumbs Up Our Rating: 88% Manufacturer: PhotoFast

Final Thoughts
Let me first start off by saying that it is pretty ridiculous that I had to change my test system because the PhotoFast G-Monster V5 makes an 8-core dual socket AMD Opteron workstation a bottleneck. I mean really, come on…you have to be kidding me right? It is safe to say that the G-Monster V5 is currently in a class of its own right now. The synthetic performance results we have seen today shouldn’t be broken until we start to see SATA III products. Only time will tell if we are able to improve upon the real world numbers. With new Intel drives just around the corner and the JMicron RAID bridge available, who knows what type of combinations we may see in the coming weeks.
Click to expand...
http://www.tweaktown.com/articles/2..._series_2_5_inch_solid_state_disk/index9.html

The new Indilinx controller is shaping up to be the next big thing in SSD technology and RunCore have used the chip well. The new Pro IV Series of drives are remarkable performers in both synthetic and real world benchmarks. A few days ago I cloned my Intel X25-M that has been used in my notebook and replaced it with the Pro IV 256GB drive and the results have been amazing, even coming from such a fast HDD. To be honest it feels like my Lenovo T61p has an SLC drive installed in it again, this time with much more capacity!
Click to expand...
Can't find a reference to if the Indilinx controllers can be firmware updated on these SSD's.


^I hate this site, not only are CnP's difficult, they keep loading ads, after I tried to stop the pg using "X" button inside FF, from loading parade of ads, not content, on multiple tabs open...arrgh!

edit, wait, maybe it wasn't anadtech that said they would not recommend, even as recently as last month, the OCZ drives or others than used the Indilinx controller, because of failed Trim firmware supplied, doesn't think we should be the guinea pigs to work out the not ready for prime time SSD's...ah crap, erased my history :p And samsung doesn't issue firmware updates for their SSD controllers, or they are not currently upgradeable that way?
 
I might make a suggestion of wiping the drive and installing TinyXP. It ditches a lot of things that 90% of home Windows users don't need on their machines, while maintaining full driver and application compatibility with XP.

A full, default install will run on Windows 95-vintage hardware with 32MB RAM (the commit charge is actually 40 - 48MB, but it'll run on even less than that). It screams on anything newer than a Pentium II.

Of course I could also suggest a Linux install, but I know how far that's going to get me.
 
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