Upgrading Samsung X50 HD

I'd like to upgrade my laptop harddrive to a 250GB or 320GB model. The interface in the laptop appears to be different from what is common in external portable HDs. Could someone please point me towards suitable HDs that would fit into the same interface as found in the X50?

Thanks in advance

 

Can you please look up the model number of your existing HDD in Device Manager? We can then check the specs and identify alternatives.

The X50 specs at SamsungPC state

Which suggests a standard IDE/PATA disk. Perhaps you are getting confused by an adaptor for the connector.

A 3-year old notebook should support LBA in the BIOS so your upper limit is the biggest capacity PATA HDD which, I believe, is the WD2500BEVE.

John

 

Thanks for the ultra quick response John. It was a connector from the laptop to the HD. Its basically the standard interface but with a divider in it (which ive never seen before). Once i get home from work, i'll get the model number. Thanks for your help!

 

The actual connector sis usually a block with about 44 holes to fit the 44 pins on the HDD. The connector is usually mounted on a ribbon cable.

It is usually possible to disconnect the HDD without disturbing the connecting cable. If you need specific advice can you take the cover off the HDD compartment and take a photo?

John

 

The model number is Fujitsu MHT2080BH. Its an 80 GB hard drive. Thanks for your help John

 

The MHT2080BH is an SATA HDD according to the info here. You can see on the picture that the connector is a flat plate, not a set of pins.

It is possible that Samsung changed from PATA to SATA during the production run. I recall they did that with the Q35.

So you need the new HDD to be SATA, which gives you a big choice in up to 320GB. I'm eyeing up for myself the Fujitsu MHZ2320BH, which has the lowest power requirement of any of the 320GB HDDs.

John

 

Yes it is a flat plate. It is also broken near the centre unlike the other flat type connectors i'm familiar with. I think i'll go for the drive you recommended. Whilst looking around i noticed that it will soon be available in 500GB capacities, though only Hitachi does a 5400rpm version (Samsung is 4200rpm)

 

The Hitachi 500GB is here, but is 1/2" thick and won't fit into the bay. The same applies for the Fujitsu 400GB and 500GB models. Samsung announced a standard thickness drive in January and claimed it started production in March, but they are taking a long time arriving. Maybe later this month. They say it has 3 platters in the standard thickness but I'll believe it when I see it.

So 320GB is currently the upper limit for the standard 3/8" thickness and prices are very reasonable.

John

 

I have posted some test results for the Fujitsu MHZ2320BH. Speedwise it's where it should be.

John

 

So is the X50 has an IDE interface? -- ie will the 250GB (WD2500BEVE) be able to fit in as a direct replacement?

 

It appears that the X50 has used both PATA and SATA (this also happened with the Q35).

Check the model number of your present HDD in Device Manager and Google to find the specs and interface. If it is PATA then the WD2500BEVE is the largest available 2.5" PATA while the Samsung HM160JC is probably the fastest.

John

 

Thanks, John - mine is MP0804H and looks like it is a PATA.
The only thing is, I am a bit confused by what you meant by a "connector mounted on a ribbon cable". I am bit scared about opening my laptop and doing the upgrade unless I can just swap the HDDs. Despite the HM160JC's speed, I'll probably would prefer the extra capacity of WD2500BEVE.

So the question is, does that connector complicate things in any way?

Also, is it possible to temporarily put the new disk into a 2.5" USB enclosure, connect it to the laptop and clone the original 80GB drive into this new 250GB drive using say, Acronis 11?

Thanks again,
Misha

 

The ribbon cable is just the cable between the motherboard than the plug which fits the pins on the HDD. Normally, it is possible to lift the end of the HDD away from the connector out of the compartment, and then carefully level the connector off the pins (do it in stages moving each side of the connector a little). Then push the new HDD onto the connector.

If you are worried, open the HDD compartment and take a photo.

Are you planning to do a clean installation or do you want to clone the existing HDD onto the new one? For the latter you will need a suitable USB HDD enclosure and a trial copy of Acronis TrueImage or MigrateEasy.

John