Sony :: Vaio VGN A270 P Hard Drive Upgrade
Jan 31, 2010
Disclaimer: I did do a cursory search for the question I want to ask, but there were like 480 pages that came up in my initial searches.
I have a Vaio VGN A270P that has VERY, VERY low miles on it. It is literally the car that the little old lady from Pasadena drove for like a grand total of maybe 10 hours.
I have ordered the requisite memory upgrade from the current 1GB to 2GB max from Crucial. Now I want to look into replacing the harddrive with something a little more beefy. In doing my due diligence, I found that this machine came with a max of 100GB hard drive. I see drives on the bay for reasonable prices that are as much as 360GB (?)
I am doing this in conjunction with a total dump of windows and swapping in Linux Mint for my OS. Basically I am wanting to try to extend the useful life and functionality of this machine by doing this.
My question is this....what would be you advice regarding the upgrading of the hard drive? Where to go to get it? What should I look for in purchasing the drive? What pit falls should I be on alert for? Do any of you have reservations about what I am proposing here?
View 7 Replies
ADVERTISEMENT
May 12, 2009
I have a Sony Vaio SR190 with a 160gb@5400 rpm hard drive. I really want to upgrade this with more capacity. I have two main questions:
1) What Hard Drive brand is the best? I was looking at the Western Digital Scorpio and the Seagate Momentus, but I want suggestions on the BEST.
View 4 Replies
View Related
Apr 17, 2009
I was wondering if it was easy to crack open and upgrade the CD-ROM drive to another hard drive instead. Since customizing a TT is hellaciously expensive and the hard drives they offer are slow and not big enough -I would rather supply my own parts than what they have in stock
View 3 Replies
View Related
Jul 29, 2009
Sony VAIO VGN-NS140E/L. I've been wanting to replace my 250GB hard drive with a larger drive, but I can't find any instruction manuals/walkthroughs of how to disassemble it enough to make the swap.
I've read pages of other models, and followed it to the point of where I have removed the bottom screws and unhinged the keyboard, but now I can't figure out how to remove the plastic cover that is over the hard drive and other components (in other walkthroughs this part seems to be a seperate metal panel, not a plastic built-in part).
View 7 Replies
View Related
Oct 27, 2009
I have a Sony Vaio VGN-FW290 with Vista Home Premium 64x that I’ve had for approximately one year. I would like to upgrade it by replacing the original 5400rpm HD with a 7200rpm HD and a fresh install of Windows 7 Home Premium 64x.
Here are the questions I have:
Is there a preferred hard drive that works well in this style of laptop? I’m considering a Seagate Momentus 7200.4 or WD Scorpio Black.
If I install the new hard drive, can I boot from the Windows 7 installation disk and go? Will the basic hardware function properly at this point; CD drive, internet connection for Windows installation, etc.? Is there anything else I need to be aware of?
According to Sony eSupport, the VGN-FW290 model is “Windows 7 upgradeable”. Does this mean all the Sony Windows 7 drivers are available to provide the full functionality of the computer with a fresh install? There’s only a handful of Windows 7 Home Premium 64x drivers, on the Sony website, compared to the Vista Home Premium 64x OS. Do I use a combination of Vista drivers along with Windows 7 drivers? For example, I have the ATI Radeon HD 3650 video adapter and a Blu-ray read/write drive, but don’t see a Windows 7 driver for them.
View 4 Replies
View Related
Jan 10, 2010
About 5 months ago my Sony Vaio VGN-A270p which just suddenly shut off on me. I thought it might be my battery or power cord but it was not it was the computer itself.
Anyway I took to to a computer repair shop and they took it apart and tests the power cord, battery and the internal power connector and it was all fine .....
View 5 Replies
View Related
Feb 26, 2009
who opened I believe Z and connected a hard drive to dvd drive connector while leaving dvd drive in for cosmetic reasons. Can't find this thread. Where exactly can the hard drive go? Inside the tray?
I am afraid there will be too much vibration if I put regular HD there. For this reason I would rather put there SSD but is there a way to make this a primary OS drive? Seems like last bios allows to boot from optical drive.
View 7 Replies
View Related
Jun 25, 2009
I bought an FW configured with a 320gb 5400rpm hard drive, originally with a view to taking it out and putting in a faster one, 7200rpm or even an ssd. However, sony said this would void the warranty so I decided to just stick wit the 5400rpm option.
So my question is that if I bought a 7200rpm drive now, or an ssd when they are slightly cheaper, would I be able to slot that in,
but then if something went wrong with the laptop and it had to be returned, simply slip in the original 5400rpm hard drive so the sony guys wouldn't know the difference?? Or would they be able to tell I had changed the drive?
View 3 Replies
View Related
May 16, 2010
How to replace Hard Drive for Sony Vaio Z...
View 7 Replies
View Related
Jan 10, 2009
I am looking at one of the 7200rpm 320gb drives from either Hitachi, Fijitsu, Seagate and Western Digital.
Sony says the systems are not designed to be upgraded (by the end user). I guess they want only overpriced tech to do it. I have already popped my system apart and put it back together so I know how to do it. I have been building and repairing my own PC since 1990 so I am not afraid to do this. I would hate to buy the drive and find out that the BIOS will not support it.
Has anyone had any issues with Hard Drive upgrades on the SZ 330p/b model?
View 3 Replies
View Related
Jul 7, 2009
I'd like to upgrade the hard drive on my Vaio, and I found a number of options here to purchase a new drive to make sure I get a compatible one. I'm leaning toward the 7200 rpm 320 gig model.
What I'm concerned about is doing the actual upgrade after cloning my current drive to the new one, as Sony says that hard drives are not user-upgradeable.
I've replaced a hard drive before on a Toshiba laptop, and on a TiVo, and many times on a desktop computer, so I have some confidence that I could probably do it if I had instructions, which I don't. I saw the instructions here about upgrading a different model -- is it probably sufficiently similar that a moderately geeky girl could manage this herself?
View 8 Replies
View Related
Dec 9, 2009
I was thinking of upgrading my HDD to 500gb. What is the compatible hd for my laptop? [vgn-fw270j]
View 3 Replies
View Related
Apr 20, 2009
Will pick up my VGN-TT180c this week and planning to upgrade the stock hard drive to a 7200rpm Hard Drive.
how to do the upgrade?
View 3 Replies
View Related
Jan 16, 2010
so does the Vaio F have a second bay? I'd really like to throw in a SSD to boost the boot time
View 3 Replies
View Related
Oct 27, 2009
I was thinking about upgrading to a 7200 RPM hard drive for my VAIO SR190.
I'm sure this voids warranty, but in the event that you need to send the laptop to Sony, couldn't you just put the original back in and they wouldn't notice?
View 4 Replies
View Related
Jan 30, 2009
I'm about to pull the trigger on a FW, but it has a 320GB 4200rpm. HD.
I've planned on buying a WD Scorpio Black later and the replacing it.
How complicated would that be? What I mean is, that I can do the hardware replacing and all that, but is it enough that I would do a recovery disc with the original HD inside and then replace the HD's and then just boot from the disc. Or do I need to fiddle around with the SATA drivers,
View 9 Replies
View Related
Apr 8, 2010
I'm considering a Vaio Z. I would have bought the latest one, but unfortunately the headphone plug is in the front which is a deal breaker for me as I most often use it on the treadmill to watch movies and it needs to "stand up".
So, when looking at previous Z's I noticed the headphone plug is one the side (as it should be. if you ask me). Blu-ray is a must and I want SSD. I found a few models with Blu-ray, but it seems that all models only have a regular 320GB hard drive, so my first question is:
- Does a Z of previous model with Blu-ray and SSD exist?
In case no such model exists I was thinking of buying the VGN-Z790JAB and replace the hard drive with a SSD myself. I was browsing this forum and found a few threads on the topic, e.g. these:...........
View 5 Replies
View Related
Mar 9, 2010
Is new Vaio Z can manual replace default sony ssd with 2.5' hard drive ?
If not, Can i manual replace dvd drive with second hard drive or it need special part, May it run at full speed SATA2, and can i boot from it ?
View 10 Replies
View Related
Jun 10, 2009
provide explanations or pics for the under keyboard removal on this Sony Vaio VGN-N150P laptop?
I can tell you that I've not found it in all the stickies... some of the models are 'close' but NO CIGAR. Google has not helped, seems like Sony has tried its darndest to BE UNHELPFUL. Even chatted with them, no joy.
View 6 Replies
View Related
Feb 11, 2009
Just pulled the trigger on a Vaio VGNTZ290NDB for $1,439 on clearance from Sony Style.
Seems like a nice unit.
Question:
This unit comes with a 64GB SSD (1.8" PATA) and a 250GB HDD (2.5" SATA).
Given the age of the model line, I'm assuming that the PATA SSD is not of the same performance level as the new SATA SSDs, e.g., Intel X25-M.
Would it be simple enough to put in an X25-M in place of the 250GB HDD and then make it the boot drive? Or is the system limited to booting from the PATA SSD?
A dual SSD ultraportable would be... well... sweet.
View 5 Replies
View Related
Dec 24, 2009
does anyone have a tutorial for sony vaio vgn-p530h hard drive replacement
View 4 Replies
View Related
Jan 16, 2009
Im having a major issue with my SR290 and Sony Repair Center specifically.
Ok, I just noticed that my hard drive have been running constantly and never under an idle state about 3 weeks ago.
I restored the computer twice but every time I turn it on, the hard drive and the fan makes really loud noises. Even when there are absolutely no applications running,
the hard drive runs and makes obvious noises. I used to be sitting late at night surfing the internet and having absolutely no noise from the laptop, but now even when I just turn it on, its really loud. If I leave it on for over a few hours, the fan exhaust starts to expel really warm air
View 10 Replies
View Related
Apr 24, 2009
I just have a question regarding aftermarket upgrade of blue ray for Vaio Z series, did any one try upgrading with any aftermarket blue ray drive for Z series? If so what is the compatibility criteria and did anyone find one for Z series
I found a notebook blue ray rom for $79
[url]
but it is IDE interface I am not sure what interface is for Z series.
View 6 Replies
View Related
Dec 4, 2007
Currently I have a 60gb 7200 drive and I'm constantly battling for disk space and I regularly have to move files off on to my desktop to reserve space. The last straw was just last week I wanted to install all of the Orange Box and well that's like half my hard drive. I had to remove my entire mp3 and photo collection and uninstall a ton of crap to find room for it.
Anyway, I'd like to get a bigger hard drive. 100+ gig minimum. I'd like to stay with a 7200 rpm drive but it seems from some threads around here that you can get virtually the same performance from the larger 5400 drives. If that's the case, I don't really care which speed it is.
Is there a certain formfactor for the drive I'm looking for? Certain brands? Anyone who's upgraded the harddrive in this system have any advice? Most of the threads I found regarding new harddrives are on the newer Dell systems; and mine is a few years old.
I suppose an external drive is always an option; but like another post here it'd have to be usb powered as I need it to be fully portable and carrying another power cord around just isn't gonna work. I've never had any experience with external drives however; though I imagine they work identical to an internal for all normal purposes. How about speed though? Are they feasable to run games off of or can you pretty much only use them for file storage?
It seems ideally I'd minimum want to upgrade my internal drive with 100+gig drive and then possibly also get an external drive later. So knowing that what should I be looking for for an internal drive upgrade. Can anyone give me any models or links to good ones or where I should be looking?
View 13 Replies
View Related
Apr 8, 2009
I was reading the switchers' guide and saw that upgrading the HD in my new (Apple refurb store, actually) 15" LED MBP 2.4ghz 8600gt model will void the warranty, and an Apple store tech must do it.
I'm cheap, illustrated well by me buying a refurb MBP for $1350 after waiting for a couple years to pounce on one. Being cheap, I was thinking of purchasing a 320gb HD for the MBP for like $65 off Newegg, and having the Apple store pop it in for me so my 1-year warranty will remain intact.
Does the Apple store charge for this service if they are installing an HD I am bringing in? If I purchase an upgrade HD from the Apple store themselves, will they provide the service free or at a discount?
View 8 Replies
View Related
Mar 3, 2009
i'm thinking about upgrade my hard drive,
anyone have suggestion on what HD is good for this laptop?
View 9 Replies
View Related
Oct 21, 2009
I'm new here, so firstly HELLO! ;-) I'm typical a SONY laptop person, but since their latest model has a seriously bad fault that would have me sending it back to them every 6 months to be repaired, and they refused to swap it for a laptop without that design, I decided to return to Dell.
So far, I'm pretty happy with my XPS 1330, other than my stupid decision to upgrade the operating system to Vista Ultimate. I ended up losing all required drivers and now it likes to crash now and then (I think it's because of the display drivers). However, that's another story!!
The purpose of THIS post is to find out from you all whether the XPS 1330 can take a 750 gig sata drive. I'm thinking of getting this drive and installing Windows 7 onto it, and starting over.
View 3 Replies
View Related
Sep 26, 2009
I'm looking at upgrading my 8204 with a larger HDD as it possibly is on its way out after nearly 4 years of constant use. If I am going to reformat may as well increase the space somwhat.
I see some people (in old threads) have gone to a 320GB 7200rpm SATAII drive rather than the 100GB 5400rpm SATA I drive in there at the moment.
I was wondering what is the largest drive the system will support and if any one has any recommendations? I have looked at Seagate 500GB drives but not sure what depth the existing drive is as notice there can be variances.
View 5 Replies
View Related
Apr 7, 2009
I have been trying to find info on the largest capacity drive I can fit to my Acer 3630 note book, (current size 60 GB)
I believe there may be issues with the Bios set up for larger drives.
I have found Western Digital scorpio ATA100 Drives both 250 and 320GB that will fit in the drive space and I am running a Phoenix NoteBios 4.0 release 6.0 and the Bios date is 20/03/06.
any experience of changing the drive on this model?
View 4 Replies
View Related
Apr 17, 2008
Dell 9300 upgrade question.
Bought a Dell 9300 couple years ago and I'm wondering if upgrading my hard drive from 5400 to a 7200 rpm will I notice a big enough boost in performance to justify the purchase?.
and second will this work in my laptop?
HITACHI Travelstar 7K200 HTS722020K9SA00 (0A50940) 200GB 7200 RPM SATA 1.5Gb/s found on this page »www.newegg.com/Product/ProductLi···7200+RP
or can someone suggest another hard drive?.
View 12 Replies
View Related
