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My friend has a Lenovo ThinkPad T420s (http://support.lenovo.com/en/documents/pd015734). Since he wants better performance, he decides to add an additional SSD to this laptop and uses it as the primary hard disk. From the specifications, it shows it has an "Ultrabay Slim Media Bay" which it seems it can be used for this purpose.

But is this a bad idea to use a SSD in the slim bay as the primary hard disk? does the slim bay tend to have slower performance? He plans to either fresh install Windows or clone everything from the current hard disk to this new SSD. Either way, the SSD will be used to boot the OS.

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The setup is not entirely clear.

  • The Ultrabay, is that where the DVD was located?
  • Isn't it possible to swap the HDD and the SSD, so to put the normal harddisk in the Ultrabay?

I have a Macbook, five years old, with DVD writer which can be replaced by a second harddisk or an SSD. You need a special tray to put in the place of the DVD writer, which has the right connections between disk and laptop. I've read a similar question about the Mac, where to place the SSD - in the harddisk location or in the DVD writer location. What I remember is that there was no difference in performance.

I can't tell if this works for your situation, but I won't be surprised.

Still - what is your question? He has the SSD working, and I hope that he notices a significant speed improvement. I've seen (five year old) slow computers speed up incredibly with a new SSD. I can't tell how old your computer is, but it seems like two or three years? That is not old! Listening to Kris you have a completely outdated computer and installing an SSD would be a waste of money. I don't believe that.

If your friend wants to know if the Ultrabay is slower, then let him swap both disks!

If he has installed the SSD and hasn't noticed a speed difference, well, then Kris has probably given the answer you should accept.

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  • Swapping them is a good idea but it may lose the warranty, I would avoid doing so if the speed is the same.
    – bobo
    Apr 24, 2015 at 10:54
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    In the EU this will not void warranty. Besides that - you can't know if the speed is the same without testing this.
    – SPRBRN
    Apr 24, 2015 at 11:27
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8 years ago my answer would of been different. Solid State Drives now are better than a HDD in every why except price. The boot much faster, take less power, are quieter, lighter, and now more reliable. He could use his SSD as a secondary/slave and have it do all the memory paging. I personally would use the SSD as the master/primary and use the HDD as a backup. Install the OS on the SSD and boot from there. Then when loaded go to the HDD and get what is needed pictures, video, word document etc. The only problem might be if it is installed in a caddy and somehow removed, you lose your primary drive.

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