Need someone to educate me on supported SSD Drive on HP ENVY 17 Leap Motion SE NB PC

[JigneshDesai]

Hi,

Product name:HP ENVY 17 Leap Motion SE NB PC
Product number:F2D12PA#ACJ
BIOS:F.63-06/10/2014
Keyboard revision:KBC Version 93.51
Total memory:16.00 GB
Processor name:Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4702MQ CPU @ 2.20GHz

Above is my laptop details.  I want to know information on supported SSD Drive on this laptop.   A photo is attached for the convience.

 

[Huffer · Accepted solution]

Here is the Service Manual:

Manual

See page 2:

Hard drives
Supports 6.35-cm (2.5-in) hard drives in 9.5-mm
(.37-in) and 7.0-mm (.28-in) thicknesses (all hard
drives use the same bracket)
Customer-accessible
Serial ATA

Dual hard-drive configurations:

Solid-state drive

Only configured with system memory up to 8 GB:

32-GB mSATA (select models only)
24-GB mSATA (select models only)

So your laptop has a pair of 2.5 inch drive bays that can hold either a mechanical hard drive or a 2.5 inch SATA solid state drive.

Here is how you install a 2nd hard drive:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzumc2bgOgA&feature=youtu.be

Here is the caddy and cable you may need to do so:

https://www.newmodeus.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2_5&products_id=542&zenid=b617...

The 24 and 32 gig SSDs referred to in the Manual only have one specific use. If you have a mechanical hard drive they can act as an "accelerator" using software tools. They cannot be a main boot drive. And it is very hard to get to the slot for such SSDs anyway; you have to remove the motherboard. If you just work with the 2.5 inch bays, access is very easy as you can see in the video.

Your best configuration is to put a 2.5 inch SATA SSD in the main bay, where your hard drive is now, and move the original mechanical drive to the secondary bay for storage. There are many ways to get software on the new SSD including cloning, HP restore disk, etc. If you need help there we can certainly provide some suggestions.

As for an SSD to use, there are many good ones on the market but I recommend the Samsung 850 Evo drives:

https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-2-5-Inch-Internal-MZ-75E500B-AM/dp/B00OBRE5UE/ref=sr_1_2?s=pc&ie=UTF8...

Post back with any more questions.

If this is "the Answer" please click "Accept as Solution" to help others find it.

[JigneshDesai]

Hi Huffer

Thankyou so much for the information. I must say your reply was much better then HP Chat Support.

So basically i understand, there are two types of SSD, 1. SSD Sata and 2. Pci SSD.  and i am going to attached new disk in Slot #2.  (FYI)

Q1.  so you say that only upto 32GB of PCI SSD is supported on this laptop.  (Are there any How-To videos for this? )

Q2. SSD Sata will support upto 512GB or 1TB...  Right ?

Q3. because connector is SATA will i get speed , atleast better then current one ?    How much speed benefit i will get ?

I am asking to understand how worth will be my investment.

Regards

[Huffer]

There is still some misunderstanding here and your laptop although not very old uses some technology that is not current any more. I will try to be more direct and explicit.

There is no PCI SSD...forget that. The 24 or 32 gig cache disks are an older form factor it is hard to find and you do not want to try to remove the motherboard. Such disks can only be used in conjunction with a mechanical hard drive. The arrangement speeds up the mechanical drive's boot time and time to open some apps but does little for overall file transfer speed. The arrangement is not as good as a 2.5 inch SSD as your boot disk in the main slot. The main slot is the one that has your hard drive in it now. Slot 1 not Slot 2 I never said put the new SSD in Slot 2 so not sure how you got that. 

Please look at the video I linked and it will show you how to add a second drive. You will swap the SSD into the caddy that has your hard drive now and put the hard drive in the new caddy you are going to have to buy. 

Using a 2.5 inch SATA SSD in place of a mechanical hard drive is a night and day difference. Once you have had any kind of SSD as the main Windows drive you would never go back. 

Yes, they make large sized 2.5 inch SATA SSDs. I think the one I linked goes up to 4 TB although the price of such a thing is astronomical. 512 gig or 1 TB makes the most sense and even those are pricey.  

Click "Accept as Solution" if this has explained it. I had this model laptop as my Expert Loaner from HP a few years back so I am fully familiar with how it can be configured and have actually done it with my hands and I experimented extensively with it as HP wants Experts to do with the Loaners they send us. You will not get any better instructions from anyone, if I do say so myself. 

[JigneshDesai]

Hi,

Okay...  Well I had no intension to use SSD as my primary Windows boot drive.   I have Win10 and nothing else on it.

(NO Installable CD,  My Win10 was auto upgraded from Win8.1 ,  hence i do not wish to swap drives )

Most of my work happens in multiple Virtual Machines (VMWare) and all of softwares are installed inside VM.

So my thought was that since VM is becomeing slow day by day , I would shift my VM into an SSD dirve (as secondary drive), so that i get some more speed while working on VM.    So you think this is possible ?

if you say no, then my alternative thought was to buy an external portable SSD drive (which connects to USB) ,  but i thought if i had a slot available, then why not use it.    

Your thoughts ?

Regards

[Huffer]

Well you are resisting the obvious here. Even the VM program is a program and it has to run from system files within Windows so even if you move the VM virtual hard drive to an SSD it can only go so fast...limited by the speed of the mechanical drive. A portable SSD through USB will not really be any faster than a mechanical hard drive connected by USB. 

Windows 10 is a free download from Microsoft so that is not really an objection either. 

[JigneshDesai]

Hi Huffer,

Well then in nut shell it means, i should drop the idea of secondary SSD Drive and should go for oridinary drive.

So i will see if i can get a 7200 rpm drive.  Thanks for your help.

Regards

---------------------------

BTW:  just sharing few links, i collected on amazon.  found it interesting to assemble it and less cost when compared to ready products.

https://www.amazon.in/dp/B00TGIW1XG/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=I40SZOUNV69&coliid...

https://www.amazon.in/dp/B06Y5N428V/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=I40SZOUNV69&coliid...

https://www.amazon.in/dp/B00SGGP5VY/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=I40SZOUNV69&coliid...

Regards

[Huffer]

A complete failure on my part to make myself understood. I can't fathom how you could read what I wrote and reach the conclusion you have. Your laptop has no M.2 port so I don't understand the Evo 850 reference. Nothing more I can do here I am afraid. Good luck to you.