Lenovo IdeaPad S10-3T - Solid State Drive (SSD)


Gear: Lenovo IdeaPad S10-3T, Intel X25M.

By default the S10-3T ships with a hard drive. Hard drives are fine, but speed wise they do lose against Solid State Drives (SSDs). An SSD is a luxury but the performance is worth it.




The Lenovo IdeaPad S10-3T uses 2.5 inch hard drives, so make sure to get a 2.5 inch SSD.

Pros:
  • Faster random read/write speeds (faster loading of files).
  • SSDs deal with shock/vibration better than HDDs.
  • Smooth video playback.
  • Cooler temperatures.
  • Quieter system because of no moving parts.
  • Overall feels like a "snappier" Windows experience.

Remains about the same:
  • Battery (at least with the Intel SSD I had)

Cons:
  • Expensive when compared to hard drives.
  • Not as high storage capacities as hard drives.

Installing the SSD

There are several methods including cloning and simply a fresh install of Windows 7.

Cloning
If you have the right software (like Acronis) you can "copy and paste" the existing hard drive to the SSD, replace the hard drive with the SSD, and start the system. You would need a "2.5 inch hard drive enclosure or SATA to USB adapter" for this. Personally I do not like the cloning because unnecessary files are kept.

Fresh Install
With this your system will be clean, but it will lose all of the existing files. The how to at Lenovo IdeaPad S10-3T - Upgrade Windows 7.

You would also have to reinstall drivers and programs if you were to use this method.

Other Notes

When you install an SSD you do not need to run ReadyBoost and Active Protection System anymore.

There are alternatives to the SSD including Mini PCI-E SSDs. By using Mini PCI-E SSDs you can keep the hard drive for storage.




(49m)

Published: Feb 24, 2012

9 comments:

  1. Reading your post, I try to upgrade mu hdd. I bought a Sandisk Extreame 240gb ssd!
    It run like the wind!!!
    Faster at all!!!
    Thanks!
    Roberto

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Big difference right? An SSD makes everything feel smooth.

      Delete
  2. Hey Jesse I am trying to upgrade to the ssd but I am not sure if this ssd would work on my lenovos103t knowing that it is a SATA3
    and also was wondering if the max ram i could put into my laptop was 2gb

    http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=365475&Sku=C19-8025

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Jesse! I've been modding my S10-3t, and am thinking about the SSD drive in the mini-pcie port - so as to keep my other hard drive. You mentioned some BIOS modding in your video for this. What do I have to do to make it work - if I install the drive will it recognize the SSD and allow me to boot from it, or do I have to perform some voodoo?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A whitelist could prevent your mod from working. A whitelist is a list of devices that Lenovo deems compatible with the S10-3T, anything else will be rejected. Usually you would have to modify the bios, but I have heard that the latest updates remove this list (and no I have not confirmed it since I no longer have the S10-3T)

      Delete
  4. Thanks Jesse! But why do you no longer have the laptop - moved on to something better?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Rent payments. :) I had the S10-3T back in 2010, and had to sell it. Luckily things have worked out ok, and now I have the opportunity of having a Lenovo ThinkPad X230T.

      Delete
  5. Great! I will look into that one as well :)

    Thanks again for all your wizardry and good times with the S10-3T!

    ReplyDelete

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Hi. My name is Jesse, and I'm a technology enthusiast. I play with technology and share what I find on this blog. If you have any questions then please use the contact form below. I'll get back to you as soon as I can.


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