Looking to upgrade my rc512-s02 SSD

I keep reading about SSD's cheap prices etc, and how some laptops only support esata 1 2 3 etc.. what esata does my laptop support?
im looking @ 256gb samsung 830 or crucial m4

Samsung RC512-S02 Core i7-2630QM 2GHz 6GB 750GB Blu-ray BD-ROM/DVD±RW NVIDIA Optimus 15.3" LED Notebook W7HP w/Webcam Samsung NP-RC512-S02US RC512-S02

 

eSATA is external SATA - a convenient way to attach an external drive which provides a full speed storage interface. Unfortunately, most manufacturers have dropped it in favour of USB 3.0 which, on paper is faster but, in reality is slower.

Explanation about eSATA over, SATA 1 = 150MB/s, SATA 2 = 300MB/s, SATA 3.0 = 600MB/s. Your RC512 probably supports SATA 3 (the chipset does although some notebook manufacturers opted to not use the maximum speed in some of their models) but the technology is backwards compatible so you can put an SATA 2 drive in a computer supporting SATA 3, or vice versa. Therefore I would get either the Crucial M4 or the Samsung 830. The extra speed of SATA 3 gives a slight boost to performance in everyday usage (the main benefit of SSDs is the near-instant access times) but, if the computer doesn't support it, then the drive is more future proof.

John