2.5" USB3 HDD Caddy

[GoogalyMoogaly]

I'm thinking of replacing the HDD in my laptop with an SSD.

However since the current HDD is a 1TB drive I'd rather not lose all that space. So I was wondering if there are any good USB3 caddies I could use for the existing drive?
I suspect the drive is only SATAII and even if it isn't, do you need SATA3 for a mechanical drive? USB3 would be nice though so that I could get the best speeds possible.
Being a mechanical drive I'm a little concerned about heat and cooling of the drive if it's being used for long periods.

However, I would also prefer it if it could be as small as possible and really to be practical it'd need to be powered by the USB connection.

So what are my options? Or should I just get a Hybrid drive as a compromise?

Thanks.

 

[drakioned]

Install the 1TB HDD into the CD/DVD bay of your laptop, and then find a caddy for the CD/DVD drive. You'll be needing that HDD a lot more often than you need the optical drive.

You can find HDD to optical bay adapters if you google something like 12.7mm sata hard disk caddy.. they go for about £10. Make sure you get the appropriate size adapter though. Most laptops are 12.7mm or 9.5mm