MSATA

[enewmen]

Hi all.

I'm hoping to find a 14+" notebook with a 2.5" HDD and a SSD mSATA.
SSD mSATA for the OS & apps, the HDD for data.
Possible?

I read many notebook specs and they say nothing about mSATA.
Even if it did have one, are those usually lacking a normal 2.5" bay?
Or I need some monster size 18" that has 2 full-size 2.5" bays?

thanks, I hope to understand this better.

 

[Pyree]

Do you need OD?

 

[WR2]

I read many notebook specs and they say nothing about mSATA.

A while back Lenovo was offering mSATA SSDs on parts of it's 14" lineup.
Like Thinkpad Edge 420s

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Also on T420 T420s T420si Y460 Y470
I don't think they've offered that option in the last six months or so.

Check out the specs on the 11" MacBook Air & Asus Zenbook UX21 notebooks, Samsung 700T tablet and ASUS Eee Slate EP121 to get a better idea where all the mSATA SSDs are finding homes these days. Windows 8 tablets? Probably as an option.

 

[AntiZig]

if you need a full size laptop HDD then getting msata along with it is kind of a waste

as pyree pointed out if you don't need an optical drive you can easily install an HDD into OD bay and have an SSD as a primary OS drive.

if you need an OD you'll need something like at least 17" laptop for it have space for dual HDDs. Hmm, although, maybe MSI had a 15" with dual HDD bays, cannot recall

 

[enewmen]

There may be some confusion here.

I'm looking for a 14" with a SSD OS/Apps and a HDD for data..
I do NOT want dual HDD bays.
I don't really need OD, but that will be nice.

Is using the OD bay for a SSD/HDD common on many models?

I was thinking if I can just use mSATA as the SSD OS, then I can can have can have it all - SSD, HDD, and OD.

From reading the posts, it seems mSATA is not any kind of a performance solution. Putting the SSD mSATA on a Windows 8 tablet?? That is the best use people can think of?

If the mSATA is not made for any kind of performance, then I will need a notebook that will allow me to replace the OD with a 2.5" SSD.

 

[WR2]

There is no confusion on our part.
Just offering options.

 

[WR2]

From reading the posts, it seems mSATA is not any kind of a performance solution. Putting the SSD mSATA on a Windows 8 tablet?? That is the best use people can think of?

It's an excellent performance solution. The performance specs for the mSATA SSDs are quite good.
Which is why they're finding homes in the top range of Ultrabooks and high end notebooks.

 

[enewmen]

It's an excellent performance solution. The performance specs for the mSATA SSDs are quite good.
Which is why they're finding homes in the top range of Ultrabooks and high end notebooks.

Ok, now we're getting someplace.
But it still seems unlikely that I'll find mSATA and a 2.5" bay and a OD in a 14" notebook.
The high-end notebooks is the direction I'm looking.

I found the Thinkpad Edge 420s on newegg and it does what I was describing.
http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834246108
But this link didn't say anything about mSATA. It seems I'll need to a very thorough search on every notebook - unless someone like WR2 just happens to know of one..

Again, thanks for the help guys. Just trying to understand this.

 

[WR2]

It seems that way to me too. I don't know why Lenovo stopped offering the mSata SSD. I suspect it was very low demand for a (at that time) pricey option.
I've seen mSata options in 15" and over business class models but again, near the top of the model ranges and prices.
Samsung's mSATA PM830

It's not what you're looking for but the other mSATA SSD trend is a hybrid Smart Response Technology SSD/HDD combo available with Z68 based motherboards.
Like the just released HP Pavilion dm4-3090se Beats Edition

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[AntiZig]

there's hybrid drives that combine mssd with hdd in one package, which is why it fits into a regular 2.5" bay, but those ssds are typically very small, no more than 50gb.

I also seen drives that use ssd for something like buffer memory of 2-6gb in order to increase the performance of the HDD by writing random ques to ssd first and then to HDD in sequence.

Looks like what WR2 found should fit your needs.

 

[enewmen]

Yes,
If notebooks like the DM4 with "hybrid Smart Response" use two physically seperate drives, I have more options.
It has a 20gig SSD in this case.

If the hybrid Smart Response drives / z68 boards are common, this is all I need to do:
Replace the 20 gig drive with a much more usable 120gig drive - then remove any hybird smart setting and use this as two completely seperate drives.

Then I'll just use some adapter to convert the old mSATA 20 gig to an expensive thumb-drive.

 

[enewmen]

If all is like the post above, then I can close the thread and call it solved
thanks for the help !

 

[enewmen]

Best answer selected by enewmen.

 

[coppernicus]

I just purchased the DM4 Beats audio. It came with 6GB of DDR3 1333Mhz; I wanted a dual channel 8 GB kit and picked one up for $60 (corsair). Really impressive machine. Fast, light, sleek, soft touch, red lit keyboard; pretty sweet sound as well. The main HD whips at 7200rpm, and when you factor in the mSATA, its quite impressive for a laptop this size. I would do it again.

 

[nynoah]

I run a Lenovo Y470 Laptop. I love my laptop. It runs like a champ. I would not hesitate to get a Y480, Y570 or Y580. All the Lenovos in this range have the port for an MSata drive. It really does not matter if you buy the drive from Lenovo to begin with. They all come with the port. So buy which ever and then head over to Mydigitaldiscount.com and buy one. I just picked up a 256 Gig MSata for 280. That is a bargain for the size. So I am running the Msata for all programs both Linux and Windows and I have a 1TB drive for all my music and videos.

I personally prefer the older Y470 because Lenovo put a hard wire switch to turn off the Nvidia chipset (save power and makes Linux easier) and they made the fan VERY easy to access. Access of the fan is REALLY important for a laptop. Because in no time your cooling fins get clogged up with lint or other crap. I can pop off the back cover with only a few screws and then 3 screws and the fan is out. Blow the fins out from the outside in and its clean. I don't know how many laptops I have found that die because there is a fur mat in the fins. I know its not a sexy selling thought. But its practical and matters in the long run.

 

[aca66]

I run a Lenovo Y470 Laptop. I love my laptop. It runs like a champ. I would not hesitate to get a Y480, Y570 or Y580. All the Lenovos in this range have the port for an MSata drive. It really does not matter if you buy the drive from Lenovo to begin with. They all come with the port. So buy which ever and then head over to Mydigitaldiscount.com and buy one. I just picked up a 256 Gig MSata for 280. That is a bargain for the size. So I am running the Msata for all programs both Linux and Windows and I have a 1TB drive for all my music and videos.

I personally prefer the older Y470 because Lenovo put a hard wire switch to turn off the Nvidia chipset (save power and makes Linux easier) and they made the fan VERY easy to access. Access of the fan is REALLY important for a laptop. Because in no time your cooling fins get clogged up with lint or other crap. I can pop off the back cover with only a few screws and then 3 screws and the fan is out. Blow the fins out from the outside in and its clean. I don't know how many laptops I have found that die because there is a fur mat in the fins. I know its not a sexy selling thought. But its practical and matters in the long run.

Is the MSata SSD you are running in your Y470 SATA II or SATA III? If it is SATA II do you know if the Y470 will support SATA III?