HDD, SATA interface

Heya Guys,

I've been searching these forums (both the hardware and mods) for the best method to upgrade the SSD drive.
It seems to me alot easier to get the SATA AA1 and then switch out for a much nicer OCZ SSD (which uses SATA II).

BUT, I was lucky enough (or unlucky enough) to run across a post (sorry, I've lost the url/topic) which said the SATA link had some missing power pins - which slightly indicate a custom interface.
I've searched but found no good images which show the HDD version of the SATA interface.

Can someone please respond with confirmation that the interface is standard and I *can* swap out one disk for the other?
.. It was the plan anyway, since reading up on SDD's, the power/speed/price benefits of the new Seagate/OCZ drives are great - and of course will only get better with time, and being able to upgrade without having to b*gg*r around with ZIF/CIF cables etc will be very good.

(as a side note - I can't wait to get in and hack some bluetooth, GPS and touchscreen into this little beast!)

Thanks all for reading, and helping out in any way you can.

--
Paul

 

I received my AOA 150-1006 today and the hard drive listed in the BIOS is a Hitachi HTS543212L9A300. A quick trip to Hitachi's website revealed this to be a 120GB SATA II 9.5mm (height) 5400 rpm model. Here is a link to the .pdf data sheet from Hitachi's website. Hope this helps. I too am thinking OCZ SSD when the price comes down just a bit more.

http://www.hitachigst.com/tech/techlib. ... M_Spec.pdf

 

hi, sorry to break this to you, but you're not going to get a 2.5" drive in the 8GB SSD model.
the bottom of the case is actually different.
I have the 120GB HDD version and noticed a bulge in the bottom, which accomodates the HDD, I'll upload some pics to show tonight.
also have pics showing the postion of the HDD under the motherboard I took when upgrading the ram.

 

Ok, I have now disassembled my day old netbook and can say absolutely, that the HDD is a 2.5" SATA II unit. The model number is in my previous post. It is mounted in a cage to the bottom of the motherboard and requires complete removal of the motherboard to replace. While I was in there, I upgraded the RAM from the single 512mb stick to a 1GB stick of DDR2-533. I can confirm that a 512mb SIS brand DDR2-667 stick will work and clock down and that a 2GB DDR2-667 stick WILL NOT work (Don't know if thats because of the stated 1GB limitation or the fact that it was DDR2-667, or both). The 1GB stick I used was an OEM Dell piece from a 2 year old Latitude D810.

Disassembly was actually very easy, once I figured out that the ribbon cable retainers for the keyboard and touchpad are not meant to be removed but instead they rotate up and out of the way. Here is a link to the instructions that I used, which I found to be quite good:

viewtopic.php?f=13&t=635

Once you see where everything is located it becomes clear that ACER screwed the end-users by not placing an access panel on the bottom of the unit.

Finally, I am actually quite impressed by the speed and response of the stock hard drive. I have been using an overclocked ASUS Eee 701, with an nLited XP install, and this machine "feels" at least as quick if not more so. Just my observation, but I don't think I would drop an additional $400 to get a 32GB OCZ SSD.

 

$400!! ... wow.

it's roughly £130-ish here in the uk (US$260).

I'm also thinking of grabbing one for my existing lappy, since the existing HDD get's way too hot, and is the loudest part of it.

Anyhoo, thanks for the good info Hotrod.
I'll be buying the 1 gig version anyway I think - can't justify any reason to have less (even though I do use Linux).

Thank electric0ant - but I already knew the SATA drive wouldn't fit into the SSD model.. Which is why I commented I'd planned on getting the HDD (SATA) version and switching THAT 2.5 drive around.
Thanks for the attempt though.