Samsung NP305-v5a - SSD upgrade

ianken51 · Sep 30, 2016

Does anyone know whether or not I can replace the 700GB 5200RPM hard drive on my Samsung NP305-v5a notebook for a 500 Solid State Drive?

I have asked Samsung but the reply was terse, simply saying "Upon checking the technical specifications, the laptop is not compatible with the SSD. The motherboard port only supports HDD."
As a 2.5 inch SSD would be SATA format I don't see why it can't be done.
Any help would be great.

dbratton54 · Oct 1, 2016

A quick look around for specs does not tell me anything about the HDD controller. So, I have no reason to go against Samsung support. As a support guy myself, when I give out an answer that unequivocal it is to keep a customer from doing something pointless or harmful. Sounds like to me like "No."

CelicaGT · Oct 1, 2016

Pretty sure they are blowing smoke up your arse. Should work fine. SATA is a standard, connector and all. Both SSD and HDD's meet that standard.

ianken51 · Oct 1, 2016

I have 2 Samsung laptops. 1 is working while the other has been used for parts. I just removed to HDD and note it is a Hitachi 5400RPM 750GB drive model 5K750-750 SATA 3.0Gb/s 5V 700mA DC.

The computer runs a AMD Quad-Core A8-3510MX Processor clocked at 1.8MHz, 8GB RAM and 1GB Radeon Graphics Adapter.

The HDD just looks like a standard 2.5inch enclosure.

Does this change any opinions. If I bought a SSD and it didn't work I can always add it to my desktop to speed it up.

ianken51 · Oct 1, 2016

CelicaGT :

I have 2 Samsung laptops. 1 is working while the other has been used for parts. I just removed to HDD and note it is a Hitachi 5400RPM 750GB drive model 5K750-750 SATA 3.0Gb/s 5V 700mA DC.

The computer runs a AMD Quad-Core A8-3510MX Processor clocked at 1.8MHz, 8GB RAM and 1GB Radeon Graphics Adapter.

The HDD just looks like a standard 2.5inch enclosure.

Does this change any opinions. If I bought a SSD and it didn't work I can always add it to my desktop to speed it up.

ianken51 · Oct 1, 2016

dbratton54 :

I have 2 Samsung laptops. 1 is working while the other has been used for parts. I just removed to HDD and note it is a Hitachi 5400RPM 750GB drive model 5K750-750 SATA 3.0Gb/s 5V 700mA DC.

The computer runs a AMD Quad-Core A8-3510MX Processor clocked at 1.8MHz, 8GB RAM and 1GB Radeon Graphics Adapter.

The HDD just looks like a standard 2.5inch enclosure.

Does this change any opinions. If I bought a SSD and it didn't work I can always add it to my desktop to speed it up.

CelicaGT · Oct 2, 2016

ianken51 :

It should work fine, I just did a Sammy Ultrabook the other day, it had a standard 2.5" bay with some adapter sled in there and an mSATA drive installed. Basically they have no idea what you have, nor do they know much about the technology in general. These call centres usually contracted out, and use a scripted diagnosis tree that likely does not address the question you asked. They use standard components with standard connectors, there's no Samsung JuJu involved unless they've done something in the BIOS. While I'd admit it's a possibility it's also unlikely they'd spend the time and money to do so. Try it, should work great, and there's your desktop if it doesn't

ianken51 · Oct 4, 2016

CelicaGT :

ianken51 :

It should work fine, I just did a Sammy Ultrabook the other day, it had a standard 2.5" bay with some adapter sled in there and an mSATA drive installed. Basically they have no idea what you have, nor do they know much about the technology in general. These call centres usually contracted out, and use a scripted diagnosis tree that likely does not address the question you asked. They use standard components with standard connectors, there's no Samsung JuJu involved unless they've done something in the BIOS. While I'd admit it's a possibility it's also unlikely they'd spend the time and money to do so. Try it, should work great, and there's your desktop if it doesn't

ianken51 · Oct 4, 2016

Yes. Just what I was thinking. Thanks heaps. I'll give it a try as soon as I have enough cash to buy around 500GB - I'd like to try Kubuntu dual boot as well. I've tried many distros and Kubuntu is the most attractive for my needs.

Thanks again

ianken51 · Oct 4, 2016

Yes. Just what I was thinking. Thanks heaps. I'll give it a try as soon as I have enough cash to buy around 500GB - I'd like to try Kubuntu dual boot as well. I've tried many distros and Kubuntu is the most attractive for my needs.

Thanks again

ianken51 · Jan 16, 2017

CelicaGT :

ianken51 :

It should work fine, I just did a Sammy Ultrabook the other day, it had a standard 2.5" bay with some adapter sled in there and an mSATA drive installed. Basically they have no idea what you have, nor do they know much about the technology in general. These call centres usually contracted out, and use a scripted diagnosis tree that likely does not address the question you asked. They use standard components with standard connectors, there's no Samsung JuJu involved unless they've done something in the BIOS. While I'd admit it's a possibility it's also unlikely they'd spend the time and money to do so. Try it, should work great, and there's your desktop if it doesn't

ianken51 · Jan 16, 2017

Sorry for the delay in responding. Before Christmas I eventually bought a 240GB 2.5 inch GeIL Zenith SATA SSD. Although the drive was 6GBs transfer rate and the Samsung is rated at 3GBs the drive installed and ran perfectly well. I bought a 3rd party 78mAh battery to replace the old 48mAh model. And, rather than lose a perfectly good HDD I bought an external USB 3 HDD enclosure.

All up cost has been AUD $147 ($99 SSD, $38 battery & $10 HDD enclosure); that's around US $110. I installed Windows 7 from fresh and now have a real snappy performer. Although the new battery has nearly twice the capacity the best I can get is 2.5 to 3 hrs from a full charge - up from 1 to 1.5 hours. This is, I assume, down to the AMD 64 quad core being a desktop CPU rather than a low power laptop unit.

But, despite the power issue, I'm very happy. The SSD has sped the machine up so much that I can now do more in the same amount of time than previously.

Thanks for all the input. It helped me decide on my path of action. The answer is, Yes you can add an SSD drive to the Samsung NP305v5a-S06 AU provided you check on specifications. You can fit a higher capacity battery, but it may elevate the rear of the machine an inch or so.

CelicaGT · Jan 19, 2017

ianken51 :

Sorry for the delay in responding. Before Christmas I eventually bought a 240GB 2.5 inch GeIL Zenith SATA SSD. Although the drive was 6GBs transfer rate and the Samsung is rated at 3GBs the drive installed and ran perfectly well. I bought a 3rd party 78mAh battery to replace the old 48mAh model. And, rather than lose a perfectly good HDD I bought an external USB 3 HDD enclosure.

All up cost has been AUD $147 ($99 SSD, $38 battery & $10 HDD enclosure); that's around US $110. I installed Windows 7 from fresh and now have a real snappy performer. Although the new battery has nearly twice the capacity the best I can get is 2.5 to 3 hrs from a full charge - up from 1 to 1.5 hours. This is, I assume, down to the AMD 64 quad core being a desktop CPU rather than a low power laptop unit.

But, despite the power issue, I'm very happy. The SSD has sped the machine up so much that I can now do more in the same amount of time than previously.

Thanks for all the input. It helped me decide on my path of action. The answer is, Yes you can add an SSD drive to the Samsung NP305v5a-S06 AU provided you check on specifications. You can fit a higher capacity battery, but it may elevate the rear of the machine an inch or so.

Great to hear!

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