Optical Caddy Hard Drive – Compatibility - 15-bs033cl

[RwrK]

Model: HP 15-bs033cl

Purpose: Replace optical drive with a caddy and 2.5" spinning drive in order to store pictures

I would like to remove the optical drive and replace with a caddy from https://www.newmodeus.com/. I am not exactly sure which model will fit with this laptop. I see several what seem to be 15 series type so not sure if all HP 15-x are the same in regards to optical drive size.

Anyone with this model laptop using an HD caddy? It seems as though perhaps this model caddy - http://www.newmodeus.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2_5&products_id=583 may work. I would like to place this Seagate 3TB BarraCuda 5400 RPM 128MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 2.5" 15mm Laptop Internal Hard Drive ST3000LM024 drive https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822179106 in the caddy.

Lastly, would you happen to know the SATA port speed for the optical drive?

Thanks much!

[Huffer]

Here is the Manual:

Service Manual

The optical drive is:

Optical drive

Fixed, serial ATA, 9.0-mm tray load.

9 mm is not the same as 9.5 mm  (a 9mm caddy will fit in a 9.5 mm slot but not vice versa) and means you would have to use a 7mm thick hard drive which is going to probably rule out a 3 TB and even most 2 TB 2.5 inch wide drives. That 15 mm hard drive you ask about is a complete no go...way too thick. 

https://www.amazon.com/FreshZone-Second-Laptop-DVD-ROM-Optical/dp/B01KVHXI28/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=...

The storage bus on your laptop is SATA-2 and the optical port is generally one notch lower so likely SATA-I. Expect performance downgrade when placing a hard drive in an optical caddy. Performance is still good enough to stream a video from that disk, however. Might experience some lag in opening a lage number of photos at the same time from it.  

Post back with any questions and please accept as solution if it is the info you needed. 

[RwrK]

Much appreciated for the quick and informative response! So, do you feel something like WD https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822234339&SortField=0&SummaryType=0&PageSize=... - WD Blue WD20SPZX 2TB 5400 RPM 128MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 2.5" Internal Notebook Hard Drive would fit within the caddy you provided the link? Also, would I also be able to use this same WD drive if need be in the main hard drive bay of the laptop? What size drives fit within the main drive bay? I'm thinking if the main drive bay will support larger 2.5" drives might be best to swap that drive out with a 3TB drive if compatible.

Thanks again!

[Huffer]

Yes that is a 7mm drive and will work fine. The internal bay holds 9.5 or 7 mm thick drives. I do not think there is anything bigger than 2 TB that will fit in the internal bay. You know you also have the option of solid state drives if you want to speed up performance? Put a SATA m.2 SSD in the M.2 slot to run the operating system. For that you can get by with a 256 gig. Then put that 2 TB WD Blue in the main slot and if you still need more storage put a second 2 TB in the optical caddy. 

That gives 4.25 TB of storage and its hard to see a need for more than that. 

Post back with any more questions or please accept as solution if this is the info you needed. 

[RwrK]

In regards to the M.2 SSD drive option I see the below in the guide provided.

Does that mean I am limited to those size M.2 drives or may I select from any M.2 found at Samsung - https://www.samsung.com/us/computing/memory-storage/solid-state-drives/s/_/n-10+11+hv22y+zq29m/.

On the Samsung page I see some drives stating "M.2" whereas others state "NVMe M.2" type. Would  I need an adapter or any type of drive cage for the M.2 SSD? I've seen some laptops whereas one needs to purchase an adapter from the laptop vendor to use M.2 or the like.

Thanks again!

[Huffer · Accepted solution]

You can only use M.2 SATA disks not PCIe/NVME so the Samsung 850 Evo M.2 is a good one to use. Or the 860 Evo M.2. No you need no caddy adapter for an M.2 it is mounted into a slot on the motherboard and held in with a single screw. They are called "gumstick" disks since they look like one. 

This is fairly high level tecnical thing so post back if you want to pursue and we can go over it in detail. 

[RwrK]

Thanks again for all the help as this more than answered by question. 🙂 I'll reach out again if I require further assistance.

[rex6rocks]

I also have the same question, But sadly my laptop does not support m.2 nVme or SATA.

I have opted the caddy option to upgrade to an ssd.

The problem is the same my laptop has a 9.0mm disk drive, not 9.5mm.

As you said we can use a 7mm caddy in the 9mm bay, 

My question is that, I have found some caddies that advertise as 9.0mm.

Is this legit or am i going to get a 9.5mm drive caddy instead?

[Huffer]

Please post your own thread after all this time and give the model number of the laptop. 

[rex6rocks]

Hello sir, I have made a separate post regarding the issue. I’d appreciate it if you could give your inputs there.

https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Hardware-and-Upgrade-Questions/SSD-upgrade-to-9-00mm-Caddy/m-...