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PSPkiller · 20/07/2010 09:52 AM

Lets imagine you own a laptop and have a need for a large amount of fast storage space for video editing or something like that. You need it to be as portable and as fast as possible so an external drive is out of the question (I know with eSATA speed isn't really a problem anymore.)

How about some kind of bracket that allows you to replace the laptop's internal optical drive (who uses those anymore?) with another hard drive. If you really needed an optical drive then you could use an external one. I personally barely use mine so practicality isn't a huge issue and they're not that quick so the speed limitations of USB isn't a huge issue either.

So, I propose some kind of bracket/caddy/enclosure that will hold an additional 2.5" SATA drive and convert the data and power connectors to that of an optical drive. I can see one problem with this. Most laptops (at least the one's I've used) use IDE to interface the optical drive which means conversion circuitry is needed which saps speed which makes this whole thing poitless. It wouldn't be a problem with newer laptops that use SATA to interface the optical drive (as far ans I can see.)

Thoughts? Should I be making a trip to the patent office? Does this already exist? Am I crazy?

S7* · 20/07/2010 10:02 AM

Depending on whether Laptop MoBos are that proprietary maybe there are spare SATA connectors?

PSPkiller · 20/07/2010 10:08 AM

In my recent screen replacing fiasco that is not yet over I removed the motherboad in my laptop to give that fan and heatsinks a clean I found no extra SATA ports but I did find 2 extra mini PCI Express slots like the one the WiFi card is in. I can't think of anything other than WiFi cards that use them so they seem a bit pointless to me.

Assassinator · 20/07/2010 10:26 AM

(20/07/2010 09:52 AM)PSPkiller Wrote: I can see one problem with this. Most laptops (at least the one's I've used) use IDE to interface the optical drive which means conversion circuitry is needed which saps speed which makes this whole thing poitless.

The conversion should be pretty trivial. And (I assume) it shouldn't cost that much speed.

(20/07/2010 09:52 AM)PSPkiller Wrote: Thoughts? Should I be making a trip to the patent office? Does this already exist? Am I crazy?

Problem is, even if you can make it happen, it's pretty pointless....

1.  (For the consumer:) Why not just buy a eSATA HDD?  USB3 is fine too (in a few years when it becomes mainstream).

2.  Difficult to use.  Really, expect an average user to be able to disassemble his/her laptop, remove the optical drive, and install this thing?  Even if the user knows how, there's also the problem of voiding the warranty.

3.  "Large amount of fast [portable] storage space for video editing or something like that" isn't all that useful for laptops, which aren't suited for these kind of tasks.  You can get a desktop up to 3x the power for the same price as a laptop, guess which will encode your videos faster.  And if the user really needs that much HDD speed, why not just use his/her internal HDD?

4.  And you have to sacrifice your optical drive for it...

SchmilK · 20/07/2010 11:05 AM

my HP nc6000 laptop that is 7 years old allows me to pull out my cd/dvd drive and slide in a 2nd harddrive or battery. I still use it today for ide laptop harddrive file recovery!

[Image: 4afdcb9bedc4f_74011b.jpg]

S7* · 20/07/2010 11:25 AM

^ it's IDE but what the hell. awesome. I approve.

Does it fit in many lappys though?

300nukez · 20/07/2010 11:30 AM

the singularity is approaching why bother trying to invent something new?
ill leave this stuff to computers
[Image: Computer_Power_Per_1000_Dollars.jpg]

[Image: Computer_Power_Per_1000_Dollars.jpg]

ProperBritish · 20/07/2010 12:14 PM

(20/07/2010 11:30 AM)300nukez Wrote: the singularity is approaching why bother trying to invent something new?
ill leave this stuff to computers

that won't work

according to this in 30 years time wee'll have a computer for $1000 that can process as many calculations as every human brain on earth.

there are physical limitations, which means at some point there will be a perfect computer that is impossible to improve upon.

squee666 · 20/07/2010 12:17 PM

(20/07/2010 12:14 PM)ProperBritish Wrote:
(20/07/2010 11:30 AM)300nukez Wrote: the singularity is approaching why bother trying to invent something new?
ill leave this stuff to computers

that won't work

according to this in 30 years time wee'll have a computer for $1000 that can process as many calculations as every human brain on earth.

there are physical limitations, which means at some point there will be a perfect computer that is impossible to improve upon.

yeh but for every human theres meant to be 20million insects
so why don't wee make them do all the calculations

squee666 · 20/07/2010 12:20 PM

(20/07/2010 10:08 AM)PSPkiller Wrote: In my recent screen replacing fiasco that is not yet over I removed the motherboad in my laptop to give that fan and heatsinks a clean I found no extra SATA ports but I did find 2 extra mini PCI Express slots like the one the WiFi card is in. I can't think of anything other than WiFi cards that use them so they seem a bit pointless to me.

correction my laptop has 1 spare and i want put a 32-64gb mini pci express SSD in it

or if your laptops low end get a mini pci video decoder theres one out that lets old netbooks play 720p smoothly

or gps module

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