IDE + SSD

quicksilver · 4 Jun 2010 at 08:38

I have an oldish IBM Thinkpad which still uses a 44 pin IDE interface for the hdd rather than the now traditional SATA (this same laptop also has a Pentium 3 which is more than happy running on what I want).

Was thinking of upgrading the hdd to solid state and have run into a few difficulties.

If I type 2.5" IDE SSD into Google, it will bring up things like a dual CF to 44 pin IDE adapter:

or a direct plugin flash drive (embedded disk card)

Now can anyone suggest a solution to this problem. I would love to go the CF route as that would give me two hdd possibilities, whereas I quite like the idea of the direct plugin flash drive?

rpstewart · 4 Jun 2010 at 10:30

What model of Thinkpad is it? You might be able to get a SATA Ultrabay tray which would replace the CD drive but depending on the model that might not be an option.

Bane · 4 Jun 2010 at 18:07

You can buy IDE/PATA SSD's such as Transcend brand, etc.

An example make is Super Talent MasterDrive range. They have PDF details of the drives.

scrlk · 4 Jun 2010 at 18:07

quicksilver said:
snip

An IDE SDD? I'd think there wouldn't be enough bandwidth to support a modern SSD.

I've heard that those CF to IDE converters are quite decent but don't expect blazing R/W speeds. Be aware that CF cards are usually quite pricey due to the fact it is quite a niche product; CF is usually used for expensive DSLRs and thus attracts a large price vs. SD cards of the same capacity.

quicksilver · 8 Jun 2010 at 09:23

it's a Thinkpad T23....sata in the ultrabay would be awesome.....just means I'd loose the optical drive which is no real biggy.....

rpstewart · 8 Jun 2010 at 10:12

There are SATA ultrabay trays out there for the T23, mainly from the far east on eBay. Getting an OS onto a drive might be a problem though because you'll lose the DVD drive when you fit the ultrabay tray.