Replacing a laptop HDD with a CompactFlash card

[rahul]

I'm thinking of replacing the HDD on my Portege 3010 with a CF card, via an IDE-CF adapter. Has anyone here done this before? I'd like to hear your thoughts on the subject.

The current HDD is 4.3GB. I will probably use a 4GB drive pulled from a Sansa MP3 player.

 

[TheStu]

2 quick things

1: Are you sure that the flash card in teh sansa is an actual compact flash, in that same form, and not simply the flash chip soldered onto the circuit board as is more common?
2: Why exactly do you want to do this? Everest type thing (cuz its there) or are you looking to milk performance out of it

 

[Zap]

Reasons would be... improved performance (in some cases), lighter weight, more shock resistance.

Don't know about the Sansa, but I know that some Creative MP3 players used to (or still does) use Hitachi CFII micro drives, and people were buying those for the drive to use in high end digital cameras because it was cheaper than buying the drive alone.

 

[dementedlemur]

I could see more shock resistance and higher performance if it was a flash based CF card with a high data transfer rate. A microdrive is still a HD and although it may be more resistant to shock than a standard laptop HD, it will lack in the performance aspect since most microdrives are 3600 rpm as opposed to the 4200 rpm standard for laptop HDs.

 

[Brainonska511]

Originally posted by: dementedlemur
I could see more shock resistance and higher performance if it was a flash based CF card with a high data transfer rate. A microdrive is still a HD and although it may be more resistant to shock than a standard laptop HD, it will lack in the performance aspect since most microdrives are 3600 rpm as opposed to the 4200 rpm standard for laptop HDs.

If I'm not mistaken, most standard laptop hard drives are now 5400RPMs.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: dementedlemur
A microdrive is still a HD and although it may be more resistant to shock than a standard laptop HD, it will lack in the performance aspect since most microdrives are 3600 rpm as opposed to the 4200 rpm standard for laptop HDs.

You are absolutely right. I was just using that as an example, though, of why someone would buy a device solely for the storage.

 

[rahul]

Thanks for the replies, everyone.

Originally posted by: TheStu
2 quick things

1: Are you sure that the flash card in teh sansa is an actual compact flash, in that same form, and not simply the flash chip soldered onto the circuit board as is more common?
2: Why exactly do you want to do this? Everest type thing (cuz its there) or are you looking to milk performance out of it

Good point. I do not know if it is a soldered chip but, this image of the innards seems to suggest it is a drive; http://www.anythingbutipod.com/archives...sa-e200/sandisk-sansa-e200-apart-4.jpg

I thought of this unit first because a friend has one with a damaged LCD that he has no use for.

My reasons for using it are (a) to extend battery life if possible and more importantly (b) improve shock resistance. I use the laptop in the field and it gets knocked around a bit.

 

[kami333]

It's actually going to be slower and you'll also run into the problem of limited writes, so you'll have to set up some sort of ramdisk or similar. It can be done, I don't know if it is worth it for an everyday use laptop though.

 

[Trippytiger]

Originally posted by: rahul
Thanks for the replies, everyone.

Good point. I do not know if it is a soldered chip but, this image of the innards seems to suggest it is a drive; http://www.anythingbutipod.com/archives...sa-e200/sandisk-sansa-e200-apart-4.jpg

I thought of this unit first because a friend has one with a damaged LCD that he has no use for.

My reasons for using it are (a) to extend battery life if possible and more importantly (b) improve shock resistance. I use the laptop in the field and it gets knocked around a bit.

How do you figure that there's a CF card in there? The big black square in the photo is the screen, and none of the other pictures on that website show anything that looks like a CF card to me.

I think the player's storage probably consists of the large Samsung chip shown in this photo: http://www.anythingbutipod.com/archives...sa-e200/sandisk-sansa-e200-apart-8.php

 

[rahul]

@Trippytiger; you are right, of course. I will need to find another source.

@kami333, why do you think it'll be slower? Unless I've misunderstood what I've read, it should be faster.