Upgrading the Solid State Disk (SSD) in my HP Mini

I’m always searching for the perfect mobile computing platform/configuration.  The day the first Tablet PC came out running Windows XP Tablet Edition I picked up a Toshiba before they even put out the display model.  Also after attending an Mobile Embedded Developers Conference (MEDC) session I had thought Ultra Mobile PCS (UMPC’s) was the way to go so I picked up a Samsung Q1 as soon as I could find one.  Last December when I was up in Minneapolis I picked up one of the latest contenders, a HP Mini Netbook.  I really like the form factor and the styling even more than my Macbook, but the performance was just not acceptable.  It came with Windows XP and I immediately updated it to Windows 7.  Performance on the first beta of Windows 7 was better than Windows XP, but it still was slow.  Taking 7-10 seconds to launch a browser is just plain painful.  I even popped in a little SD card and enabled ready boost, I could tell a different but it wasn’t fast enough to make the device usable.  The problem was the junky SanDisk SSD that came with the computer, I’m very surprised that HP even went to market with the device.

 

I did some research and it looked like the best way to go was a Runcore SSD but the availability wasn’t that great.  Last week I finally received this Runcore 32GB that had been backordered for months. Installing it only took me about 10 minutes with these instructions.

 

I just can’t say enough about how much the new SSD transformed my little HP Mini from a paper weight into something that is actually a very usable device.  I probably won’t be doing any development, but for taking notes, surfing the web, email and word processing, which are the things I purchased it for, it runs plenty fast.  As you can see my Primary hard disk WEI transfer rate is 5.9.  I probably should have looked before, but the number 1.7 sounds familiar.

Bottom line is if you own an HP Mini, run don’t walk to your computer (well I guess if you are reading this chances are you are probably already there)  My Digital Discount and order a SSD, you won’t be sorry, trust me, really I mean it.

-ec