With the price of SSDs coming down, I wondered whether it is possible to retrofit my 2003 Packard Bell Easynote H5 with one - thinking of a 64GB Crucial. Processor is a Pentium 4 HT, 130Nm, Northwood, running at 3.2Ghz. Os is 32 bit XP - I tried loading Vista 64 and it wouldn't take it.

Looking for benefits of faster boot (Single Core processor and magnetic HDD makes it glacial at the moment) and lower power consumption - laptop sucks up up tp 6 Amps DC at the moment.

Is this feasible ?

If so, what needs to be done ?

Nick

You'll need to get one that supports TRIM in the drives firmware, since your laptop will not support it, otherwise data writing transfers will be slow. SSDs dont really save on power, since instead of an elecric motor you have to power all the electronics.

It would work, but I would think its not worth it TBH..

However, if it doesnt already have one, a 7200 drive is a massive uplift for a laptop.

when i replaced the drive in my old D600, good 5-6 years ago there was a very noticeable performance increase - and that was from a direct clone drive not a fresh install.. when i got the netbook first thing i did was change the drive..

Offtopic: a northwood in a laptop?!.. does it sound like a jet-engine when it heats up!!!!!

Offtopic: a northwood in a laptop?!.. does it sound like a jet-engine when it heats up!!!!!

Yep. Its got a heat pipe + a temperature actuated fan. It does get very hot. Charger rated at 20V 6Amps !

Probably explains why I got it cheap at the time from a refurbisher - £400 off the Retail of £1,000 - Voltage regulation for the screen is screwed, its overdriven all the time and on-board modem components don't work. Apart from that totally reliable.

Nick

It would work, but I would think its not worth it TBH..

However, if it doesnt already have one, a 7200 drive is a massive uplift for a laptop.

when i replaced the drive in my old D600, good 5-6 years ago there was a very noticeable performance increase - and that was from a direct clone drive not a fresh install.. when i got the netbook first thing i did was change the drive..

Offtopic: a northwood in a laptop?!.. does it sound like a jet-engine when it heats up!!!!!

+1

I have a Sony GRT996ZP which has the same processor/chipset and replaced the hard drive with a larger/faster 7200rpm one. That made a big difference because the original drive was so slow.