For those with slow 1.8" PATA drives wanting SATA...

Sort of - if you intend to buy a 1.8" ZIF drive, then you'll need an adaptor that goes from 1.8" ZIF to 2.5" 44-pin IDE not to 2.5" SATA like the CoolDrives adaptor.

Something like this DealExtreme: $2.69 CE ZIF to 2.5" IDE/CE Hard Disk Drive Adapter Card should do the trick.

 

Are my eyes decieving me, or is the cable here a solution: 60GB OWC Mercury Aura Pro MBA Solid Stat... (OWCSSDAPMB060) at OWC

(That drive is 1.8" form factor w/ sata interface, and the cable would make it possible to put 1.8 micro sata drives in the d430????)

The question would be do the dell d430 and macbook air share the same sytem board connector on the other end. Not likely, but I'm asking owc about it right now....in other words are these the same:

 

No.
That drive at macsales.com is a SATA drive - your DELL D430 takes a PATA ZIF drive.

Now that none-broken 1.8" PATA ZIF drives are available, no special "solution" is required - just buy the drive www.mydigitaldiscount.com Browse By Brand:Renice:Renice K3VLAR 1.8 Inch PATA Zif SSD Category and plug it in.

 

Thanks for the reply....just to clarify, I understand that this is sata ,and that my drive is zif, but what I'm interested in is the cable attached to that sata. Notice the other end (as in opposite the zif interface, and that attaches direct to the mainboard) That is the part I'm interested in. I know the early macbook airs also take a zif drive, but this company has managed to make a cable that allows a 1.8 sata to connect to the mainboard by means of some type of adapter cable. Make sense? I hope so...just looking for an alternative here.

Thanks again.

 

That link you posted for the Macbook drive is not a ZIF connection. It's another proprietary connector.

You really don't have much option, it's either the Runcore or Renice, buying a SATA drive is a waste of money/time because it'll have to convert back to ZIF which eliminates the benefits of SATA anyway.

 

Thank you also for your reply, but just to note, I understand it is not zif as I said in my last post, that was not my question. The zif connection is on the drive itself. What I am looking at is the opposite side of the cable. What I am wondering is if the macbook air and Dell D430 mainboard share the same connector, or in other words, is there such a thing as a sata (micro) to dell mainboard connector, as there is one for the macbook air. Note again, the link in my first post of the sata drive for the macbook air (ala OWC), which would normally take a zif drive, but has this adapter attached to a sata drive.

Also noted your comments on losing the benefits of sata, but may be worth it, due to greater availability and cheaper prices of these 1.8" form factor sata drives. Anyway, that's all I'm sayin'.

Thanks.

 

Thanks!

I'm eager to get the R3VLAR from mydigitialdiscount as soon as stock is available! Until then, I have been continuing the re-search, and have found the following:

OWC Mercury Legacy Pro SSD, SandForce Equipped, SATA, 7% Over Provisioning, IDE/ATA drive

Which is already in stock! Its U.S. made(?) and seems to have comparable performance to the R3VLAR:

(See graph):
*WON* Member Bugler Congrats WinAn OWC Mercury Extreme Pro 40GB SSD @The SSD Review

Apparently it uses the following controller:
SandForce Processor with full SF1200 Series 7% Over Provisioning firmware set

Which according to the spec sheet, includes TRIM support.

Well, it appears *this* drive is also suitable for my specs (thanks to everyone for your input):

1) 2.5"
2) PATA
3) Windows 7 TRIM

I did note the:
1) G-Monster IDE 2.5" ssd's from Photofast
2) Runcore Pro IV IDE

As kindly suggested by the awesome members here. Google'ing those SDD appears they may have had issues in the past, especially the Runcore.

----------
Question:

I have not seen the OWC Mercury Legacy Pro reviewed on this site. Based on the above links, it seems this is a good alternative to the R3VLAR! As the R3VLAR is not in stock either (the 64GB version).

Are there any opinions or notes from the wise members of this forum regarding OWC SSD products? Performing a search on this site for OWC products appears to garner favorable reviews.

Thanks so much again!
Ed

edit:
Just found the press release, dated January 2011:
http://blog.macsales.com/8501-owc-a...tate-drive-available-for-mac-and-pc-notebooks

 

Take a look at this one too - Mach Xtreme Technology 60GB MX-NANO 44 Series 1.8" PATA SSD - 44pin IDE Connector - MXSSD1MNANO-60G Mach Xtreme 60GB MX-Nano PATA Series SSD 1.8" 44pin IDE Connector Detail Page - it's also a 44-pin IDE drive, and will fit both 2.5" and 1.8" drive bays, as long as they're using a 2.5" size 44-pin connector (ie, the normal laptop IDE connector).

 

The OWC drive looks like fits your requirements perfectly. Only precaution I'd suggest is asking for a money-back-guarantee to ensure (i) resume from standby/hibernate works and (ii) trim doesn't freeze the system and (iii) Win7 installation detects the SSD. These issues plagued the Runcore ProIV due to their using the Jmicron sata-to-pata bridge chip. The Renice K3VLAR uses a Marvell sata-to-pata bridge chip with no such issues. I hope OWC have used the Marvell chip. OWC could also consider making a 1.8" ZIF SF1200 SSD

 

Nando4!

Awesome questions I totally should be aware of! :GEEK:

I just called their 800 number, and asked pretty much verbatim your 3 questions. OWC indicated they have tested a Windows 7 PATA install using their SSD:

1) Resume from standby/hibernate works!
2) TRIM does not freeze the system!
3) Windows 7 does recognize the drive as an SSD!

I asked what if any of the above were found to be not true -- it was indicated to simply call for their 'No Hassle' RMA/Refund!

Well, i'm going to place the order after this post, thanks all for your guidance! I will perhaps start a new thread regarding, "OWC Mercury Legacy Pro 2.5" PATA SSD Review" upon receiving the unit!

It appears CrystalDisk|PerformanceTest|atto are the benchmark tools to use as demonstrated in Nando4's excellent reviews. Obviously the platform I'll be using is much different -- Centrino Pentium 1.7 GHz (Dothan) w/2GB RAM .

Goodbye all!
Ed