I had a spare 120gig Samsung 850 Evo mSATA SSD removed from a decomissioned Video Workstation (setup as a page file / cache / scratch disk for Windows and various Adobe software) which I wanted to repurpose and actually make use of it.
I have a bit of a budget audio setup at the moment- the laptop I am using as my DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) is a slightly ageing but awesome Dell Inspiron 1525 from 2009. I have maxed out the memory, upgraded to Windows 10 Pro and tweaked it for audio. I had also upgraded the HDD a few years ago to a Seagate Momentus 7200RPM but lately it was really struggling… showing the usual signs of failure: slow performance, loud persistent clicking sounds and constant HDD activity. It was time to be replaced!
Enter this little peice of genius hardware:
This is an mSATA to 2.5″ HDD Adapter for use as an internal laptop HDD replacement. So I installed the spare mSATA drive into it and swapped out the failing 7200RPM mechanical drive for this. The verdict? Absolutely amazing! It has literally brought this laptop back to life and into the game. Boot times, app load times, overall system performance and especially sample loading in Ableton Live 9 is top notch!
Highly reccomend anyone looking to squeeze a bit more life out of their old laptop to get yourself an SSD and also upgrade to Windows 10 (Yes, I know there are mixed reviews about Microsoft’s latest OS but after installing it on atleast 7 devices- I can tell you right now, it is 100% worth it!)