Help with Budget Home Laptop

[AttemptingToBuild]

Hi all! I'm looking to buy a laptop for basic non-gaming use; Office, Quickbooks, Turbotax, Chrome, limited video/picture viewing. I was thinking this one:

http/www.amazon.com/ASUS-A55A-AH31-RD-15-6-Inch-LED-Laptop/dp/B009OV18SE/ref=sr_1_2?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1368484568&sr=1-2#productDetails]

I have an OCZ Vertex 3 that I would like to swap the HDD for.

My questions are:

Will the SSD fit? Will I need any additional anything to swap it?

Does this laptop have a Sata 3 connection? If not will the Sata 2 significantly decrease its performance?

Is there any better options for around that price that are better fits for my use, that can accept my SSD (especially if I would greatly benefit from Sata 3)?

Many thanks in advance!

 

[Prostar Computer]

Hey AttemptingToBuild!

Yes, the SSD should fit, as they are conventionally 2.5" drives and that's exactly what's required of laptop storage drive bays - you will just need to remove the other drive in the new laptop.

I'm not sure if this model has a sATA 6 Gb/s port for the drive, but most modern systems have at least one. If this turns out to be a sATA 3 Gb/s port instead, then yes; you will notice a performance hit, although a SSD in the slower sATA connection will still be faster than a mechanical drive in the same connection.

I'd say that's a fair deal on the system, too, for having an Ivy Brige i3 in it. You should be able to upgrade the RAM capacity in it as well, without voiding the warranty, but check the documentation first!