HP Mini 1116NR SSD upgrade

[Jeff7181]

My mom has an HP Mini, model 1116NR with a 16 GB SSD. She's out of space on the SSD and I'd like to get her a new one as long as they're not too expensive. I seem to recall reading that these netbooks use a 1.8 inch PATA drive and my research seems to suggest that.

Does anyone have any first-hand experience with replacing the SSD in them that could confirm that for me and/or suggest a replacement drive? I'm thinking something at least 60 GB... it doesn't even have to be SSD, but that would be nice.

 

[mkozakewich]

Same one I have! It does indeed have a PATA ZIF connector. One model came with a 1.8" HDD, while the other came with a 1.3" SSD and an 'expansion bay'. A lot of netbooks from that era had SATA drives that used a hard pin structure similar to a PCIe 1x card, but the Zero Insertion Force connectors use a ribbon cable similar to those for the keyboard or monitor connections.

There are three options for you:
-Upgrade the SSD to a 1.3" model
-Use the expansion bay
-Remove that extra USB port and get a 1.8" drive

The HP Mini 1116nr has enough space for a 1.8" drive, but the SSD version crams an extra USB port into half that space. You'll notice a little port door towards the back of the right-hand side. You can buy an expensive, hard-to-find custom-made USB drive that fits in there neatly, or you can hack an inexpensive, larger USB stick to do the same thing.
If you get one of those tiny little 1" fold-out USB sticks, you can remove the chassis and get just the board, which should be the exact same width as the USB connector. You cannot fit anything that has a portion wider or higher than a standard USB connector.
Slide this into the port. If it wiggles, I suggest layering tiny squares of tape on the bottom until it causes enough friction to stay in. I'd also recommend taping a tab to the back of it so you can pull it out later without resorting to needle-nose pliers. If it's small enough, you can then put the cap back on. Voila! Permanent extra flash storage without using either of the other two ports. I've got an 8 GB flash drive in mine right now, but it's just a bit too big and I can't get the door on again. You could easily up this to 32 GB, I'm sure.

Regardless, it would still be good to get a faster model of drive, so the netbook runs faster. If you want to get a 1.3" model, this is about your only choice:
http://www.amazon.com/Super-Talent-1...ref=pd_cp_pc_1
Or there's a 64 GB model floating around here or there for double the price of that.

If the netbook stays in one spot (from personal experience, I'll make the guess that the battery is basically dead), the most economical route would be to get a USB HDD. Either 2.5" or 3.5" flavour, depending on how mobile you expect her to be. You can get upwards of 3 TB for $150 or less.
(You could even try hacking a thin USB extension from that expansion bay so that you don't use up either of the other two ports. Make sure to get a drive that performs fine with one USB port.)

 

[Jeff7181]

Same one I have! It does indeed have a PATA ZIF connector. One model came with a 1.8" HDD, while the other came with a 1.3" SSD and an 'expansion bay'. A lot of netbooks from that era had SATA drives that used a hard pin structure similar to a PCIe 1x card, but the Zero Insertion Force connectors use a ribbon cable similar to those for the keyboard or monitor connections.

There are three options for you:
-Upgrade the SSD to a 1.3" model
-Use the expansion bay
-Remove that extra USB port and get a 1.8" drive

The HP Mini 1116nr has enough space for a 1.8" drive, but the SSD version crams an extra USB port into half that space. You'll notice a little port door towards the back of the right-hand side. You can buy an expensive, hard-to-find custom-made USB drive that fits in there neatly, or you can hack an inexpensive, larger USB stick to do the same thing.
If you get one of those tiny little 1" fold-out USB sticks, you can remove the chassis and get just the board, which should be the exact same width as the USB connector. You cannot fit anything that has a portion wider or higher than a standard USB connector.
Slide this into the port. If it wiggles, I suggest layering tiny squares of tape on the bottom until it causes enough friction to stay in. I'd also recommend taping a tab to the back of it so you can pull it out later without resorting to needle-nose pliers. If it's small enough, you can then put the cap back on. Voila! Permanent extra flash storage without using either of the other two ports. I've got an 8 GB flash drive in mine right now, but it's just a bit too big and I can't get the door on again. You could easily up this to 32 GB, I'm sure.

Regardless, it would still be good to get a faster model of drive, so the netbook runs faster. If you want to get a 1.3" model, this is about your only choice:
http://www.amazon.com/Super-Talent-1...ref=pd_cp_pc_1
Or there's a 64 GB model floating around here or there for double the price of that.

If the netbook stays in one spot (from personal experience, I'll make the guess that the battery is basically dead), the most economical route would be to get a USB HDD. Either 2.5" or 3.5" flavour, depending on how mobile you expect her to be. You can get upwards of 3 TB for $150 or less.
(You could even try hacking a thin USB extension from that expansion bay so that you don't use up either of the other two ports. Make sure to get a drive that performs fine with one USB port.)

That link to Amazon didn't work for some reason, but I'm thinking it's probably more cost effective to replace it. Maybe I'll get her a new laptop and take that one back and see if I can find a use for it... put Linux on it or something.

Thanks for the detailed info. Hell of a first post here.

*EDIT* The link started working... $80 isn't bad. Maybe I will do that for her.

 

[mkozakewich]

Ha, well, you know how it is. I needed something dear and near to my heart to start an account!

The keyboard on that netbook is one of the best I've used (in my own opinion, of course), so you might even just want to keep it for long writing pieces on the go. It's a bit of a niche, I admit.