The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Going to swap my DVD drive for an SSD but I need some pointers.

    Discussion in 'Alienware 18 and M18x' started by Raiden Gekkou, Sep 14, 2014.

  1. Raiden Gekkou

    Raiden Gekkou Notebook Guru

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    53
    Likes Received:
    6
    Trophy Points:
    16
    I plan on getting this SSD in 2 weeks or so, but since i'm new to swapping disk drives with hard drives, I asked around and was pointed to this caddy, but i'm not sure if stuff for the M18X will work on my 18. Will it? Any advice?
     
    Raiden Gekkou, Sep 14, 2014
    #1
  2. Mr. Fox

    Mr. Fox BGA Filth-Hating Elitist®

    Reputations:
    37,255
    Messages:
    39,354
    Likes Received:
    70,777
    Trophy Points:
    931
    Yes, that will work fine. Look in the Alienware 18 Owner's Lounge and you will see a couple of examples where that type of caddy was used. You simply take the bracket off the ODD and attach it to the caddy, insert the drive in the caddy and install that assembly in place of the ODD. Very straightforward and easy.
     
    Mr. Fox, Sep 15, 2014
    #2
  3. Raiden Gekkou

    Raiden Gekkou Notebook Guru

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    53
    Likes Received:
    6
    Trophy Points:
    16
    Thanks, i've watched a couple of videos and it's simple enough, but I wanted to make sure that I didn't need a caddy made specifically for the 18.
     
    Raiden Gekkou, Sep 15, 2014
    #3
  4. DumbDumb

    DumbDumb Alienware !Wish money wasn't the problem.

    Reputations:
    1,583
    Messages:
    1,649
    Likes Received:
    259
    Trophy Points:
    101
    what adapter do you use tho? ive tried this my self and my plug to the odd is different than a sata port..
     
    DumbDumb, Sep 15, 2014
    #4
    Mr. Fox likes this.
  5. sy5tem

    sy5tem Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    49
    Messages:
    341
    Likes Received:
    99
    Trophy Points:
    41
    the alienware as a mini sata conector for ODD.. that's why you need to buy a odd to hd adapter with the original odd min sata plug on it. and you install the ssd inside the tray which has the full sata connector
     
    sy5tem, Sep 15, 2014
    #5
    Mr. Fox likes this.
  6. Mr. Fox

    Mr. Fox BGA Filth-Hating Elitist®

    Reputations:
    37,255
    Messages:
    39,354
    Likes Received:
    70,777
    Trophy Points:
    931
    What sy5tem said... Or, you can spend more on a "kit" from Alienware that includes a different cable to fit the HDD and a HDD bracket if you really want to. The ODD to HDD caddy is the most affordable option, super simple and it works just as well.
     
    Mr. Fox, Sep 15, 2014
    #6
  7. DumbDumb

    DumbDumb Alienware !Wish money wasn't the problem.

    Reputations:
    1,583
    Messages:
    1,649
    Likes Received:
    259
    Trophy Points:
    101
    sweet tHANKs.. whats the alienware part number? also in another thread Brother fox you have pictures of your system and the display SYSTEM.. there is some thing in the ODC slot? with a cable leading off from it.. what is that?
     
    DumbDumb, Sep 15, 2014
    #7
  8. Mr. Fox

    Mr. Fox BGA Filth-Hating Elitist®

    Reputations:
    37,255
    Messages:
    39,354
    Likes Received:
    70,777
    Trophy Points:
    931
    It is in the part number list in the first page of the Alienware 18 Owner's Lounge. I think you are wasting money buying the parts from Dell when the aftermarket caddy works just as well for less money.

    I answered in the thread where you asked that question. That was a WiHD setup that I was playing around with to see if it would work with Haswell, but I never had any luck. It seems that Sandy Bridge was the last system the WiHD stuff worked with. WiHD did not work properly with the M18xR2 either.
     
    Mr. Fox, Sep 15, 2014
    #8
  9. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

    Reputations:
    9,441
    Messages:
    58,200
    Likes Received:
    17,916
    Trophy Points:
    931
    Yeah the caddies from eBay work just fine at full speed.
     
    Meaker@Sager, Sep 16, 2014
    #9