Latitude E7440 hard drive size? 9MM? 7MM? mSATA?

Hi! Hope you're all doing well : )

So, any news from any side about the issues discussed here? Some ordered the brackets for the HDD, and I am curious if they arrived, and how much they cost exactly...

Cheers!

Hi MATZEXXX,

the bracket and the cable arrived. I've ordered a additional Seagate Ultrathin 500GB HDD.

Both bracket and mSATA cable from Dell Germany cost 13€ each. No shipping costs.

The bracket only works with these 5mm HDDs. For an 7mm HDD I would say that there is no space for an additional bracket.

TheTwo

Great news! I always thought I definitely need the bracket, partly because of dariusz.qrek's post in this threat, where he says he used the bracket with a 7mm drive with no issues. Maybe I misread. Also because of warranty concerns I hesitated to install an HDD without a proper bracket.

Anyway, I am convinced now that I should give it a go asap, which I'll do. I'll let you know how it works out : )

Quick update: the drive works without issues - thanks for your help!

Looking back I have to admit I was just too careful (and worried about warranty) to not just try using the drive without a bracket.

Hi folks...good thread...I just got my e7440 and see that the 128GB SSD is in the mSATA slot and not in any 'interposer'. There's what looks like a blanking cage in the HDD space - just to fill the space it looks like. When I removed this cage I see that there's no connector to connect a SATA HDD to.

If I want to fit a 7mm HDD in this space what parts exactly do I need - just the HH0YC (RoHS:Yes,ASSY,CBL,5MM-HDD, E7440)? Where does this cable connect to the board exactly?

Thanks for the reply. Yes I figured I'll probably just need the SATA cable for a 7mm drive, although I'm wondering are the rubber spacers on the drive bracket for the 5mm mechanical drives for shock resistance as well as just making up the space?Trying to source this SATA cable I need is proving to be a bit of an issue as Ireland / UK Dell are giving me a bit of a runaround and at one point told me the part has been discontinued!? 

So far I've found that a large section in the centre of the keyboard is unsupported which gives a lot of flex/bounce causing a good few typos. I've also found the touchpad to be far from satisfactory with a very vague feel to controlling the pointer on the screen. The other point I'd previously read but not fully investigated before purchasing is the fact that one of the USB ports is in fact USB 2.0. 

I doubt the rubber spacers would even fit in there together with the 7mm drive. It is a very snug fit!

At one point I tried ordering the metal bracket. The Dell representative quoted a price of 70 Euros, which still makes me dizzy. Luckily I did not need it in the end.

My keyboard issues (you are referring to my notebookreview.com post, right?) are not with the center keys, but rather some of the outer keys. I have not much flex/bounce.

The one USB port next to the power connector is only USB 2.0. But it apparently offers power even when the laptop is switched off. I can live with only two USB 3.0 ports.

...very strange - I'm getting USB 3.0 speeds off both rear USB ports - it's the one on the side that I'm getting only USB 2.0 speeds from - and this is despite Dell advertising it as having 3 x USB 3.0 ports.and all USB ports on the laptop having the SuperSpeed USB symbol.

You can turn off the 'always on' USB port in the BIOS AFAIK

Yes, my point about the rubber spacers was that, if installing a 7mm HDD, would that leave this drive vulnerable without any 'shock absorbers'?

Spoke with an agent today who has told me that I may be able to buy the SATA cable from the 'Out of Warranty' department - is that where you got yours?

Hi Extra-Ordinary Guy,

i've contacted the German support of Dell by a support ticket and then communicated by email with them. They offered me directly to order the bracket and the cable.

TheTwo

I bought my E7440 off Outlet and didn't need the 3G/WWAN card, and didn't understand what the "msata interposer" part of the specification meant.

Like most people reading this thread, I intended to leave the mSATA card in the miniPCIe slot and fit a large standard SATA drive, and then I found the 2.5" bay had no connector, just a plastic frame to support the laptop base.

I have contacted my Dell account manager at work to see if I can get the cable and the frame, hopefully the price won't be too much. I will be very sad if it is expensive because I could have spend just £90 more and got a similar E7440 but with the 3G card and the mSATA interposer!

I didn't really know what the imposer was either, but I couldn't uncheck it during ordering anyway, so I got it and the SATA connnector cable without really doing much. My mSATA minicard port came empty, so it was easy to place the SSD there and make room for an HDD. Maybe Dell changed their policy about this and now the imposer (and SATA cable) is left out to save expenses.

I am sorry to say this, but my feeling is you will have to pay a lot for it. Dell asked me for 70 Euros (!!!) for the metal bracket one needs for a 5mm HDD. That's more than I paid for the HDD itself ; )

They are being ridiculous. Either you got an employer who just pays for this type of stuff without asking, or you basically won't have the option. So sorry!

I've just received a quote from the Dell Ireland/UK Out of Warranty team for the HH0YC Sata cable - €60!!

I got a quote back with the two items, HH0YC and FCN4M; the quote reads as follows:

RoHS:Yes,ASSY,CBL,5MM-HDD,E7440 = GBP 9.59

RoHS:Yes,ASSY,CHAS,MSATA-5MM,GOLIAD 14 = GBP 14.78

I think I will simply get the cable as I have am fairly sure I won't need the cage

thanks to all those who previously posted helpful information.