Laptop with easily removeable HD?

[Valkhorn]

So here's the deal. I work at home as a full time LAMP developer. I want the ability to have a synched copy of my hard drive plugged into my main LAMP server, and I would like a laptop so I could easily take that hard drive out, plug it into a laptop, and be able to boot off of it and continue working on whatever project it is I need to work on.

I haven't been able to find many things in google on laptops with easily swappable hard drives. I can find some with secondary drive bays - sure but I don't know if they're bootable or if the drives are easily removeable. It doesn't have to be hot-swappable or anything, I just want the ability to stick in a 2nd hard drive (or swap out the primary HD) in a few seconds if I have to leave the office for a while and want to continue work.

I don't need fancy graphics, and I want battery life over bells and whistles.

Are there laptops with this feature out there?

 

[David_CAN]

To clarify, are you trying to boot off the same harddrive on both computers (this won't really work, you might want to look into a VM image that can be booted on both computers)? Or are you just trying to have a harddrive with data on it which you can easily swap between laptop and PC?

I don't really know of any laptops designed with a harddrive that can be removed without disassembly - the closest would be some really old models that had slide out bays, but then the bay component was always propritary. There just isn't much of a reason for the feature, and frankly even if you find a laptop the requires fewer steps to remove the harddrive (I've owned a few whose HD cover used a spring loaded tab instead of screws) the thin SATA cable in the laptop just wasn't designed to be pulled out and plugged back in every day. Sooner or later you'll break it.

Depending on how much data you want you could look at an ExpressCard form factor SSD harddrive and a matching PCIe to ExpressCard adapter for your computer.

 

[pwrusr]

Couple questions for you:
-What's your budget?
-What screen size & screen resolution are you looking for?

I know dell's latitude & Precision series and maybe lenovo T & W series have a few laptops with hard drives that are fairly easy to swap. (1-2 screws)

Another question I have is why not have a external hard drive that plugs in via USB or eSATA? Does it HAVE to be a internal drive?

 

[ND40oz]

I know dell's latitude & Precision series and maybe lenovo T & W series have a few laptops with hard drives that are fairly easy to swap. (1-2 screws)

Yeah, easy thing to do is get a spare Dell or Lenovo caddy and then it's really 1 or 2 screw swap, so you don't have to bother with mounting it in the caddy each time.

 

[Valkhorn]

To clarify, are you trying to boot off the same harddrive on both computers (this won't really work, you might want to look into a VM image that can be booted on both computers)? Or are you just trying to have a harddrive with data on it which you can easily swap between laptop and PC?

I don't really know of any laptops designed with a harddrive that can be removed without disassembly - the closest would be some really old models that had slide out bays, but then the bay component was always propritary. There just isn't much of a reason for the feature, and frankly even if you find a laptop the requires fewer steps to remove the harddrive (I've owned a few whose HD cover used a spring loaded tab instead of screws) the thin SATA cable in the laptop just wasn't designed to be pulled out and plugged back in every day. Sooner or later you'll break it.

Depending on how much data you want you could look at an ExpressCard form factor SSD harddrive and a matching PCIe to ExpressCard adapter for your computer.

1) Yes. This will work with Ubuntu 10.04. I've tested it on several different computers. It won't work with Windows, but I said I'm a LAMP developer, not a WAMP.

2) It has to be completely bootable. It's not just the data. My work environment can be reconfigured but it's a pain to do that, and just copying over the config files and mysql databases won't work. There are ample pear/python/perl libraries I often use. Most Linux distros can do this from computer to computer with minimal hassle. In fact, the drive that I use for my main OS on my work environment has gone through about 5 different servers (all new hardware), and 3 separate hard drive upgrades without having to re-install the OS.

EDIT: I actually asked about HD syncing in an Ubuntu forum recently, and someone had the chutzpah to suggest I should just reconfigure LAMP every time on my hard drive for 'practice'. Convenience is the key here, not re-inventing the wheel for masochistic delight.

3) I thought about just an external drive or a high capacity USB thumb drive - but they aren't fast enough for work. I like using a fast hard drive - and that won't cut it. Esp. when I have to do a LOT of mysql and sql work.

4) As far as not much of a use for this feature - there is if you don't run OSX or Windows - but they have so much of the market that not many people will ever ask for this feature.

Couple questions for you:
-What's your budget?
-What screen size & screen resolution are you looking for?

I know dell's latitude & Precision series and maybe lenovo T & W series have a few laptops with hard drives that are fairly easy to swap. (1-2 screws)

Another question I have is why not have a external hard drive that plugs in via USB or eSATA? Does it HAVE to be a internal drive?

1) I don't want to spend more than $1000.

2) I looked at the lenovos because they look tough enough for what I need. But, swapping out hard drives frequently could be problematic if the threads on the laptop are plastic and could be eventually stripped by frequent swapping.

3) External hard drive through eSATA would be better than USB, but I don't like having something that could easily be knocked off of a table or a desk, thus completely halting my work while I reboot - or possibly damaging the drive.

Yeah, easy thing to do is get a spare Dell or Lenovo caddy and then it's really 1 or 2 screw swap, so you don't have to bother with mounting it in the caddy each time.

I'm going to go and play with a Lenovo at Best Buy soon and see what I can find out. I'll have to be sneaky to figure out how the thing is put together but I figure if I can lure them with a possible sale maybe I can get the option of taking the drive cover off in the store. Even though I refuse to buy from Best Buy, but they won't know that.

It looks like an eSATA external drive may be my best option even though it's not as convenient.

 

[Ampsonic]

What about a USB 3 SSD type flash drive. You could keep a vmware image on it and boot it on whatever computer you are on?

(something like this?)

 

[Valkhorn]

What about a USB 3 SSD type flash drive. You could keep a vmware image on it and boot it on whatever computer you are on?

(something like this?)

It's an option, but not every laptop I've seen has USB 3.0 yet. Plus, I wouldn't need VM Ware because this is Linux and would not care what hardware it is being booted off of. Maybe I should have been clearer on what LAMP means I wouldn't need VMWare because if the hard drive is an exact copy it will be bootable. Rynch or some other drive cloning tool will do fine as far as cloning the drives.

I wasn't aware USB 3.0 was fast enough to warrant an external SSD.

 

[ND40oz]

I wasn't aware USB 3.0 was fast enough to warrant an external SSD.

USB 3.0 is theoretically faster then eSATA, it'll really come down to the actual hard drive your using unless you go SSD.

 

[silent-circuit]

Express-card based SSD (some machines can boot these -- you'd have to do some research of course) and an adapter to mount it in a desktop, perhaps? This would be much quicker to swap, obviously, but could be fairly expensive. So something like this http://www.provantage.com/siig-jj-000082-s1~7SIIG187.htm and this http://www.amazon.com/FileMate-PCI-Express-card-Retail/dp/B001QSZDJ8 maybe. There are much faster / larger expresscard SSDs available, and possibly faster adapters available too, but that's an idea.

Here's a used one even cheaper. http://www.amazon.com/Aluratek-File...?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1321376423&sr=1-23

I've seen some reviews of very fast ExpressCard based SSDs, though I suspect neither of the ones I linked would be very fast. At least comparable with a 5400RPM 2.5" HDD though. I'd look for reviews of specific models if you decide to go this route regardless.

 

[JRS]

USB 3.0 is theoretically faster then eSATA, it'll really come down to the actual hard drive your using unless you go SSD.

My limited testing has shown that eSata (Sata II) beats USB 3.0 in data transfers about 10-15% - it seems USB 3.0 is not anywhere close to its state spec. I think that difference is minimal for most uses though.

An SSD with its near immediate response times as an external has been huge for my development. The virtual machine compiles my main solution significantly faster (~10 seconds) vs the same solution running on a host desktop (~20 seconds).

For my current work project, I am running a VMWare virtual machine off an Intel 320 series 120gb SSD enclosed in one of these: http://www.addonics.com/products/ruby_exdrive.php - this enclosure is a bit pricey, especially if get all the options. But with all the options it can use eSata, USB 3.0 or internal Sata for the data interface and for power it can use USB via a plu, eSatap, a small external power brick, and also internal sata power. I've ran with all three connection interfaces without problems, and have ran usb power, internal sata power, and eSatap for power without problems.

My work desktop is provided by my client, and it has no usb 3.0 or eSata, so I ran regular sata power/interface cables out the back and connect the addonics enclosure via that every morning and disconnect it at the end of the day. The eSata/SSD performance is really something.

Valkhorn - you may find this kind of a solution more convenient than you expect.

 

[silent-circuit]

10-15% is likely the result of early chipsets. I'm sure USB 3.0 throughput will improve with time.

 

[CEpeep]

Express-card based SSD

Seconded. I used these on my Macbook Pro for awhile as backup devices, but they would work well for what you are doing. You can get a dock for them so that you can use them on your desktop as well.

 

[Valkhorn]

My limited testing has shown that eSata (Sata II) beats USB 3.0 in data transfers about 10-15% - it seems USB 3.0 is not anywhere close to its state spec. I think that difference is minimal for most uses though.

An SSD with its near immediate response times as an external has been huge for my development. The virtual machine compiles my main solution significantly faster (~10 seconds) vs the same solution running on a host desktop (~20 seconds).

For my current work project, I am running a VMWare virtual machine off an Intel 320 series 120gb SSD enclosed in one of these: http://www.addonics.com/products/ruby_exdrive.php - this enclosure is a bit pricey, especially if get all the options. But with all the options it can use eSata, USB 3.0 or internal Sata for the data interface and for power it can use USB via a plu, eSatap, a small external power brick, and also internal sata power. I've ran with all three connection interfaces without problems, and have ran usb power, internal sata power, and eSatap for power without problems.

My work desktop is provided by my client, and it has no usb 3.0 or eSata, so I ran regular sata power/interface cables out the back and connect the addonics enclosure via that every morning and disconnect it at the end of the day. The eSata/SSD performance is really something.

Valkhorn - you may find this kind of a solution more convenient than you expect.

I like that idea. I really don't need VMWare to do that either, because I can configure my OS to auto-detect most things and be bootable off of most machines as long as they allow booting through eSata or USB for a laptop. I'm eventually moving my LAMP server from a short stacked 640 gig hard drive (I don't need that much space to begin with) to an SSD, and I'd like to be able to keep that convenience of speed whenever I go to another drive/computer. When doing a lot of work on very large sql databases, it helps to have a very fast hard disk setup.

Thanks for the ideas so far!

 

[pwrusr]

I'm going to go and play with a Lenovo at Best Buy soon and see what I can find out. I'll have to be sneaky to figure out how the thing is put together but I figure if I can lure them with a possible sale maybe I can get the option of taking the drive cover off in the store. Even though I refuse to buy from Best Buy, but they won't know that.

It looks like an eSATA external drive may be my best option even though it's not as convenient.

Sadly Best buy and the office stores don't typically have anymore then the lower end laptops from any given laptop maker. Your best bet is going to be lenovo's site directly. Around this time of year manufactures typically run some really nice specials

But yeah running a external SSD with a virtual box image of your work environment might be the best way to go.

 

[ninjaturtle]

I have a 12.7mm HDD caddy that I use in my optical bay on laptop(HP DV6-3000 series) but I'm not sure if I can boot from it.

If you find a laptop that can boot from HDD in the optical bay you can leave the securing screw out and just slide out the caddy from the laptop and slide it in a bay on your server.

Or if possible you can just synch the data from Prime HDD to the caddy HDD which is also made bootable for the server if you can't boot from optical bay.

The should also have a 9.5mm caddy too.

 

[ND40oz]

My limited testing has shown that eSata (Sata II) beats USB 3.0 in data transfers about 10-15% - it seems USB 3.0 is not anywhere close to its state spec. I think that difference is minimal for most uses though.

An SSD with its near immediate response times as an external has been huge for my development. The virtual machine compiles my main solution significantly faster (~10 seconds) vs the same solution running on a host desktop (~20 seconds).

For my current work project, I am running a VMWare virtual machine off an Intel 320 series 120gb SSD enclosed in one of these: http://www.addonics.com/products/ruby_exdrive.php - this enclosure is a bit pricey, especially if get all the options. But with all the options it can use eSata, USB 3.0 or internal Sata for the data interface and for power it can use USB via a plu, eSatap, a small external power brick, and also internal sata power. I've ran with all three connection interfaces without problems, and have ran usb power, internal sata power, and eSatap for power without problems.

Did you use that enclosure for all your testing or did you use a native usb 3.0 enclosure for the 3.0 testing?

 

[JRS]

Did you use that enclosure for all your testing or did you use a native usb 3.0 enclosure for the 3.0 testing?

I did both as I was interested to determine the hit for using an eSata-USB3.0 converter, fully expecting there to be one. I need to look up my results and get back, but iirc, I got the same performance whether using the eSata USB 3.0 addonics adapter or with a standard external usb 3.0 enclosure housing the drive. I did this test with both an Intel 320 120gb ssd and WD black 750gb. Again, I need to check my recorded results and get back.

 

[imsuchageek]

Thinkpads.... one screw

 

[silent-circuit]

Thinkpads.... one screw

Most machines I've seen actually use only one screw, or at most 2 (one for the panel, one for the caddy itself). Still a pain, hence my suggestion to go with something ExpressCard based.

 

[Pylon]

If a optical bay HDD is okay, either a Thinkpad or Dell Latitude will allow you to pull out the hard drive there without a screw. On my Dell you press a button and pull the whole thing out, and on a Thinkpad I believe you slide a switch and pull the whole thing out.