Intel sells a 80gb SSD in the 1.8" format. I've seen the drive (SSDSA1MH080G201) for a little under $250. I am not sure if it is a ZIF drive, which is what I think the D430 uses.
If my memory is correct, the D430 uses a 1.8" drive which is considerable smaller (length, width and thickness) than traditional 2.5" laptop drives. Is it possible that you've been ordering the wrong drive?
Nope. I'm relatively tech not savvy so on three occasions customer service came up with the part number and on two occasions tech support ordered the part for me.
I called again and wasted more time in voicemail, then tried an email. Dell replied and told me they're sending the correct one this time. I'm not holding my breath.
Back in "the day" a small business guy like me bought a good quality laptop and relied on Dell's tech support and customer service to keep it running for long enough to justify the cost. What this experience seems to be telling me is I can't count on customer service so I'm better off buying the cheapest laptop that will fit my needs, instituting a good back up system, and only planing on keeping the laptop for a short time. Comments?
You can still get excellent support - you just have to pay for it now. In 2000, a mid-range notebook cost $2,500 or so. In 1020, it's $700. A US-based support plan runs about $300 a year (like MyTechTeam) -- at $900 for three years, you still come out to well under what a good system would have cost in 2000 - but the dramatic price decreases in notebooks haven't all come from hardware. Add a 3-year hardware warranty for $200 or so, and your total is under $2000. You get very little in the way of support or warranty now wihthout paying extra.
My d430 was the ultra light wieght in 2008 and after adding accessories and the best 3 year in home warranty the d430 offered, the total came to about $2800. I don't feel like I got my money's worth. Good follow up was Dell's strong suit and that appears to have gone by the wayside. Coming soon, I need something more than a notebook for word processing, ocr, timekeeping, and other business apps. I like your idea about buying a laptop without paying the manufacturer for more than minimal support, and contracting the support out to a third party. So mytechteam and the like don't give you the standard run around, i.e. "gee the problem must be with the software/hardward and you have to call them . . ."?
There are plenty of places to buy support contracts - and varying degrees of coverage. What most people don't understand now is why they don't get much support with a $700 computer. Simple economics: just as you get a low airfare now and pay for everything from food to baggage to (in some cases) check-in, you get a low price computer and pay for everything required to support it.
I agree with ejn about the 3rd party support. Many people I know who have bought computers through other companies can use them to help out if the origional seller is being unreasonable.
Dell has used up over 5 houres of my cell now and im waiting on on my 3rd Alien Virtual Contact at this moment for the new Alienware I got that crashed the first hour I turned it on, and that is an over $1,700 laptop.
PCs are a commodity these days. Any one of about a dozen manufacturers can provide you with a PC to do "the job". What separates them (Dell, HP, Lenovo, Sony, Toshiba, etc) is their size and ability to support their customer before, during and after the sale -- globally. We buy a lot of equipment from Dell, and our std config includes 3 years of onsite support. With our volume, we are paying a lot less then the $2000 price referenced earlier in this thread for Latitude, OptiPlex and Precision Workstation models.
I have no problem paying more, but I want to get what I pay for. Up to now Dell had good follow up, but if that priority has been replaced by price, I understand where they're coming from and just have to deal with it. Sounds like I should change my model to buying inexpensive hardware from the manufacturer with some initial hardware (including some physical damage "insurance") and software protection, then find a third party (maybe though CNET reviews or the like) whose priority is customer service to perform that function.
Of course - because you're not getting software support -- just hardware support. My prices were for software support and a hardware extended warranty. Most businesses of that size have some kind of in-house help (or outsourced) desk support.
For individual consumers requiring or needing a software support contract, the price is about $300 a year - from multiple vendors, not just Dell.
Consumers used to have the price of "lifetime support" bundled into the cost of the system. Competition - in many cases initiated by Dell -- lowered the prices of new hardware so far that no one can afford to do that anymore.
My point is that consumers are just now seeing what businesses have known all along -- the real cost of a computer isn't the hardware. It's in the support.
As a home based business I don't have your volume, so my experience with the biggies (currently a Dell and HP) is that they may be able to support the larger customer but they are not terribly interested in doing so for me. Would I pay more for better support? You betcha. What I'm experiencing now, and hearing from others, is that the best support for someone like me no longer comes from the biggies, but will come from a third party whose niche is support. My only remaining concern in going with the third parties is that, while I own a lot of my own software (Office, Acrobat Standard, etc.) the operating system and possibly some other software will come from the manufacturer and be licensed to them. How is this delt with by a third party? Do they and I try to fix the problem, then send me to the manufacturer if they can't fix it?
I tried installing a 120GB PATA ZIF drive, MA1231GAL in the D430 and the computer does not recognize the drive at all. I am hesitant to spend another $150 bucks or so on a drive that may not be recognized by my laptop. Specs for HS122JC cannot be found on Samsung site.
here's a link to the seller. keep in mind that it's coming from china. a lot can happen on a trip from china.
if you go on ebay, computers and networking, drives and storage, type in d430 it will bring up drives for the d430. there's an 80 gb ide with a zif adapter in a caddy for a d430 and the bid right now is 50 buck, it's used.
i have put one of these 120 gb drives in an ibm x41 with a zif adapter. they take the same 1.8 drive but with an ide connector. the zif drives are bigger and cheaper. it gave me a 2010 error at startup and i had to have zender give me a bios adapt for it. but now it's working fine.
dennis.evans
5 Posts
0
June 29th, 2010 13:00
Intel sells a 80gb SSD in the 1.8" format. I've seen the drive (SSDSA1MH080G201) for a little under $250. I am not sure if it is a ZIF drive, which is what I think the D430 uses.
dennis.evans
5 Posts
1
June 29th, 2010 13:00
If my memory is correct, the D430 uses a 1.8" drive which is considerable smaller (length, width and thickness) than traditional 2.5" laptop drives. Is it possible that you've been ordering the wrong drive?
topmahof
2 Intern
•
176 Posts
0
June 29th, 2010 18:00
the d430 takes a 1.8 zif drive. you can get a 1.8 zif, 120 gig, 5400 rpm, 8m buffer on ebay for 170 bucks with 10 shipping. model #hs122jc. brand new.
the smaller drives are 4200 rpm and i doubt you would like the performance.
wahickey
6 Posts
0
June 30th, 2010 07:00
Nope. I'm relatively tech not savvy so on three occasions customer service came up with the part number and on two occasions tech support ordered the part for me.
wahickey
6 Posts
0
June 30th, 2010 08:00
I called again and wasted more time in voicemail, then tried an email. Dell replied and told me they're sending the correct one this time. I'm not holding my breath.
Back in "the day" a small business guy like me bought a good quality laptop and relied on Dell's tech support and customer service to keep it running for long enough to justify the cost. What this experience seems to be telling me is I can't count on customer service so I'm better off buying the cheapest laptop that will fit my needs, instituting a good back up system, and only planing on keeping the laptop for a short time. Comments?
ejn63
9 Legend
•
87.5K Posts
0
June 30th, 2010 11:00
You can still get excellent support - you just have to pay for it now. In 2000, a mid-range notebook cost $2,500 or so. In 1020, it's $700. A US-based support plan runs about $300 a year (like MyTechTeam) -- at $900 for three years, you still come out to well under what a good system would have cost in 2000 - but the dramatic price decreases in notebooks haven't all come from hardware. Add a 3-year hardware warranty for $200 or so, and your total is under $2000. You get very little in the way of support or warranty now wihthout paying extra.
wahickey
6 Posts
0
June 30th, 2010 11:00
My d430 was the ultra light wieght in 2008 and after adding accessories and the best 3 year in home warranty the d430 offered, the total came to about $2800. I don't feel like I got my money's worth. Good follow up was Dell's strong suit and that appears to have gone by the wayside. Coming soon, I need something more than a notebook for word processing, ocr, timekeeping, and other business apps. I like your idea about buying a laptop without paying the manufacturer for more than minimal support, and contracting the support out to a third party. So mytechteam and the like don't give you the standard run around, i.e. "gee the problem must be with the software/hardward and you have to call them . . ."?
ejn63
9 Legend
•
87.5K Posts
0
June 30th, 2010 18:00
There are plenty of places to buy support contracts - and varying degrees of coverage. What most people don't understand now is why they don't get much support with a $700 computer. Simple economics: just as you get a low airfare now and pay for everything from food to baggage to (in some cases) check-in, you get a low price computer and pay for everything required to support it.
John Doe1
6 Posts
0
June 30th, 2010 20:00
I agree with ejn about the 3rd party support. Many people I know who have bought computers through other companies can use them to help out if the origional seller is being unreasonable.
Dell has used up over 5 houres of my cell now and im waiting on on my 3rd Alien Virtual Contact at this moment for the new Alienware I got that crashed the first hour I turned it on, and that is an over $1,700 laptop.
dennis.evans
5 Posts
0
July 1st, 2010 09:00
PCs are a commodity these days. Any one of about a dozen manufacturers can provide you with a PC to do "the job". What separates them (Dell, HP, Lenovo, Sony, Toshiba, etc) is their size and ability to support their customer before, during and after the sale -- globally. We buy a lot of equipment from Dell, and our std config includes 3 years of onsite support. With our volume, we are paying a lot less then the $2000 price referenced earlier in this thread for Latitude, OptiPlex and Precision Workstation models.
wahickey
6 Posts
0
July 1st, 2010 09:00
I have no problem paying more, but I want to get what I pay for. Up to now Dell had good follow up, but if that priority has been replaced by price, I understand where they're coming from and just have to deal with it. Sounds like I should change my model to buying inexpensive hardware from the manufacturer with some initial hardware (including some physical damage "insurance") and software protection, then find a third party (maybe though CNET reviews or the like) whose priority is customer service to perform that function.
ejn63
9 Legend
•
87.5K Posts
0
July 1st, 2010 10:00
Of course - because you're not getting software support -- just hardware support. My prices were for software support and a hardware extended warranty. Most businesses of that size have some kind of in-house help (or outsourced) desk support.
For individual consumers requiring or needing a software support contract, the price is about $300 a year - from multiple vendors, not just Dell.
Consumers used to have the price of "lifetime support" bundled into the cost of the system. Competition - in many cases initiated by Dell -- lowered the prices of new hardware so far that no one can afford to do that anymore.
My point is that consumers are just now seeing what businesses have known all along -- the real cost of a computer isn't the hardware. It's in the support.
wahickey
6 Posts
0
July 1st, 2010 11:00
As a home based business I don't have your volume, so my experience with the biggies (currently a Dell and HP) is that they may be able to support the larger customer but they are not terribly interested in doing so for me. Would I pay more for better support? You betcha. What I'm experiencing now, and hearing from others, is that the best support for someone like me no longer comes from the biggies, but will come from a third party whose niche is support. My only remaining concern in going with the third parties is that, while I own a lot of my own software (Office, Acrobat Standard, etc.) the operating system and possibly some other software will come from the manufacturer and be licensed to them. How is this delt with by a third party? Do they and I try to fix the problem, then send me to the manufacturer if they can't fix it?
gsadasivan
8 Posts
0
October 30th, 2010 17:00
Topmahof,
Did you actually install this drive on the D430?
I tried installing a 120GB PATA ZIF drive, MA1231GAL in the D430 and the computer does not recognize the drive at all. I am hesitant to spend another $150 bucks or so on a drive that may not be recognized by my laptop. Specs for HS122JC cannot be found on Samsung site.
Regards
GS
topmahof
2 Intern
•
176 Posts
0
October 30th, 2010 18:00
http://cgi.ebay.com/1-8-120GB-DELL-Latitude-XT-D430-D420-HARD-DRIVE-120-GB-/270645803963?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f03bf3bbb
here's a link to the seller. keep in mind that it's coming from china. a lot can happen on a trip from china.
if you go on ebay, computers and networking, drives and storage, type in d430 it will bring up drives for the d430. there's an 80 gb ide with a zif adapter in a caddy for a d430 and the bid right now is 50 buck, it's used.
i have put one of these 120 gb drives in an ibm x41 with a zif adapter. they take the same 1.8 drive but with an ide connector. the zif drives are bigger and cheaper. it gave me a 2010 error at startup and i had to have zender give me a bios adapt for it. but now it's working fine.