Pre-built M6600 without mSATA drive - easy to add later?

Hi Again,

I hope this is not a trivial question, but the answer eludes me from the existing discussions on this forum: I am making the assumption that, even if it ships without an mSATA drive, the hardware support is there in any M6600 for me to just plug in any (SATA II) mSATA drive, correct? (i.e. the cable, cavity, etc is there)

I am happy to deal with any of the software issues such as possibly having to disable the other SATA drives while installing the OS (Linux, in my case). I just want to be sure that this option is available to me. Dell is very vague about this on their website. I definitely want to install my OS / Software on a small but fast mSATA, leaving two (huge) data drives available to me for other purposes.

I don't mind if the mSATA I install is not as good as the model that ships with the machine - it should still beat the heck out of any spinning platter, even if I have to replace it after 4-5 years

 

Yes, you can do this. There is a mini-PCIe port in the machine labeled "SATA". This is where you put your mSATA drive.

Note you have to also switch the port to mSATA mode in the BIOS setup utility. Also, I've seen people complain that if you ever add/remove another drive the BIOS will forget that you had the mSATA drive at the top of the boot list, so watch out for that.

 

Thanks, Aaron. I'm aware of the problem with the BIOS re-ordering the drives, that's no problem. Well, if all goes well, I should have the machine in two days or so

I'm looking for a machine that can endure extended periods of 100% CPU usage without heating up like my late-2008 Macbook Pro 17in does (especially in summer in Johannesburg), and potentially vast storage space for large GIS datasets, etc. And one that is continually upgradeable, to at least have a useful 5-year lifespan if necessary.

The M6600 is already "old" (being introduced a whole year ago) and will probably be updated in a couple of months. Other sleeker, sexier machines are being launched (e.g. new Macbook Pro). Still, I am really excited by the M6600... a real geek laptop!

 

Hye... need an advice, had done clean install Win7 on my mSATA but each time during start need to go for boot option and manually select the mSata... if let it be, it will stuck at missing partition drive... by the way I've manually remove the default windows of 100MB and make it 1 clean drive instead... could it be the cause ?

 

you need to have that 100mb partition

 

The easiest way to install Windows on the mSata drive is to remove the other drives from the system during the installation.

Also, make sure Windows 7 properly sets up the system for an SSD. Sometimes it will not pick up on the mSata being an SSD drive.

 

Ouch... need to do another clean install lol

Will take your advice these time... now having the mSATA detected on/off when I'm docking and start notebook... will update by next week... thanks a lot guys :yes: