Quick video on replacing notebook HDD with an SSD

So, let's assume here that you want to upgrade your standard notebook HDD to an SSD.

We have prepared a short video below which shows how easy it is to upgrade. We used an OCZ Hypersonic notebook for the job. Installation will vary slightly with every notebook, but the basic idea is the same. We are replacing a 200GB Hitachi 7,200 RPM SATA hard drive with an 80GB Intel X25-M SATA SSD drive.

As you can see in the video above, installation is simple and only takes a few minutes, if that.

What we forgot to mention in the video is that SATA drives don't use jumpers to set master and slave - some come with jumpers for upgrading firmware, though. Just pop your new SSD in gently, make sure it is detects correctly in your BIOS or at POST and then you're in business. If it doesn't detect, your motherboard may need a new BIOS update or you didn't install the SSD properly, with the power and data connectors attached properly.

Since all new SSD drives being released use the SATA interface, just make sure that your notebook supports it. You can still buy older PATA (IDE) based SSD drives, but they are slower and usually smaller in capacity.

On the next page let's take a look at the performance considerations between a HDD and SSD.