Guys, I received U70 today. Love the unit!  :D And I’ve been wondering can I swap the HDD with the 30GB from TR series? (Thanks to Gr00vy’s WiFi upgrade guide, I got the courage to upgrade the TR1/B’s HDD to 40GB & WiFi card to b+g). I understand that U70 also use the same 1.8” HDD.

Regards,
~Ivan

Well, it is possible but it depends on what type of hard disk they’re using in there. You may want to check the device manager settings to see what type of hard disk it is using. See, there is one main issue with 1.8” hard disks. They all don’t necessarily use the same connector as there isn’t really a standard connector like there is for 3.5” or 2.5” disks.

Toshiba puts their connector at the back much like the 3.5” and 2.5” disks with a similar pin layout. Hitachi puts their connector on the side of the hard disk meaning that they are not compatible in terms of mounting. I believe the pin layout is the same though.

So, lets say you have the Toshiba in your TR and a Hitachi in your U70…there’s no way to swap them. The cables inside the systems are custom made so you wouldn’t be able to mount one in the other. Your only bet is to find a larger capacity version from the same vendor to ensure it fits.

[quote author=“ivan”]Guys, I received U70 today. Love the unit!  :D And I’ve been wondering can I swap the HDD with the 30GB from TR series? (Thanks to Gr00vy’s WiFi upgrade guide, I got the courage to upgrade the TR1/B’s HDD to 40GB & WiFi card to b+g). I understand that U70 also use the same 1.8” HDD.

Regards,
~Ivan

I am quite interest in your results if you do attempt an hard drive upgrade. In time the 1.8” 60GB will be available for retail purchase.

Have you tried playing a DVD movie from the U70? If so, how does the movie play in terms of screen viewing and size.

Thanks for ur replies guys!

Nope, I haven’t tried play a DVD coz I sold the PCGA-CRWD1 along with VAIO C1-MV. Tomorrow I’m gonna borrow USB CDrom from my friend for installing stuffs, hahaha…

To Gr00vy0ne: the HDD on U50/70 according to http://www.pdabuyersguide.com/notebooks/sony_vaio_U50.htm is “20 GB Toshiba MK2004GAL 1.8” hard drive. 100MB/s Ultra DMA Transfer Rate, 15ms average seek time. Intel Ultra ATA controller”. Is it the same w/ TR’s?

Thanks,
~Ivan

Hi Ivan!  Glad to hear that you like the U70 Yuni should send you the updated recovery CD pretty soon so that you can use the external keyboard on the device without docking.  Which pen software did you use? PenOffice?

As for upgrading the hard drive, I think the real challenge is whether there is enough room to accomodate 1.8” hard drive higher than 20G.  All the hard drives that are greater than 20G has a significant increase in thickness.  This is why you can’t upgrade the hard drive on Sony X505, Sharp MM20 and I believe it is true as well in U50/U70.

Btw out of topic, all our U50s are now shipped with Windows XP Pro!

[quote author=“ivan”]
To Gr00vy0ne: the HDD on U50/70 according to http://www.pdabuyersguide.com/notebooks/sony_vaio_U50.htm is “20 GB Toshiba MK2004GAL 1.8” hard drive. 100MB/s Ultra DMA Transfer Rate, 15ms average seek time. Intel Ultra ATA controller”. Is it the same w/ TR’s?

Yes, it’s the same class and size of the TR’s hard disk. So, it’s conceivably possible to upgrade the hard disk. Of course, we’ll have to actually see what the insides look like to see if it’s an easy process (unlikely) or something painful.

Hmm… better wait for somebody else to do the upgrade first then coz I’m far from expert in this kinda thing :D .

Yes Mul, can’t wait for the new CD. And I’m only using the Tablet PC’s own input style :(

Thanks for all ur answers,
~Ivan

gr00vy, are you gonna post the review before or after the server change?  I’m a little eager to read. :mrgreen: