Hi everyone,

I have a 2009 MBP that I was thinking about relocating the hard drive to the superdrive bay, and installing a Solid State Hard Drive for my OS / Applications.

Anyone know where to get the hard drive caddy that mounts into the superdrive spot, and the external enclosure for the old super drive without spending a fortune?

They're very cheap in the states, but everyone here wants much more money in Canada.

Thanks.

OWC DDAMBS0GB Data Doubler Optical Bay Hard... in stock at OWC (http://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/DDAMBS0GB/).

They're very cheap in the states, but everyone here wants much more money in Canada.

Welcome to buying basically anything except cheese curds

OWC DDAMBS0GB Data Doubler Optical Bay Hard... in stock at OWC (http://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/DDAMBS0GB/).

You can also get it in Canada from MacDoc who will price match OWC.

There is a difference from the cheapies over the OWC products. Similar to the difference in the knock off batteries and the NewerTech.

We had way too many issues with the generic batteries and just gave up on them.

Larry does his homework.

OP we can install if you wish and provide Mercury SSDs

Thats the same one I use as well.

There is a difference from the cheapies over the OWC products. Similar to the difference in the knock off batteries and the NewerTech.

We had way too many issues with the generic batteries and just gave up on them.

Larry does his homework.

OP we can install if you wish and provide Mercury SSDs

Apologies for resurrecting an old thread but I find myself in a similar position after having bought a new Samsung 840 Pro SSD.

Everything I've read on the topic of drive enclosures for the optical bay suggests that the prices charged by OCW/MCE are not justified. Apparently the enclosures are the same bit of cheap Chinese plastic that everyone else uses. OWC includes tools and screws with their data doubler enclosures however. What has been suggested to me was simply buying the 10-20 dollar enclosures offered on eBay in the US.

Anyone with their own experiences that can confirm this as fact?

OP here.

I went with an eBay cheapy. Doesn't come with tools but you probably have your own. Just remember you need a Torx screw driver. Other than that been running fine for a year.

IMO you can't compare a cheap enclosure to something like a cheap battery. Batteries are complicated things! An enclosure is a plastic mould with a generic connector/converter attached to it. If it fits, it fits. It's not the kind of part thats going to fail over time either.

I installed the SSD in the optical dive bay. It boots fine from there. Same sata2 speed than in the hd bay.
The reason for that is the optical bay caddy is pretty flimsy in that slot. Rather not let the hdd get extra vibration

I ended up installing dual SSD drives in my MBP. Went with a cheaper adaptor/enclosure for the SuperDrive and have had no issues. The enclosure I got had some metal tabs that I had to cut off to get it to fit. Not sure why there were on there but the metal was so cheap and soft I could do it with normal scissors and they didn't even get dull. For the price I was happy.


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OP here.

I went with an eBay cheapy. Doesn't come with tools but you probably have your own. Just remember you need a Torx screw driver. Other than that been running fine for a year.

IMO you can't compare a cheap enclosure to something like a cheap battery. Batteries are complicated things! An enclosure is a plastic mould with a generic connector/converter attached to it. If it fits, it fits. It's not the kind of part thats going to fail over time either.

Thanks for the reply.

Would this work for my late 2011 Macbook Pro 17 inch?

for Universal Apple Macbook Pro Optical bay 2nd HDD Hard Drive Caddy SATA 9.5mm | eBay (http://www.ebay.ca/itm/for-Universal-Apple-Macbook-Pro-Optical-bay-2nd-HDD-Hard-Drive-Caddy-SATA-9-5mm-/300725955979?pt=US_Drive_Bay_Caddies&hash=item4604a9ed8b&_uhb=1#ht_2252wt_1172)

The description mentions that it is compatible with the 13 inch macbook but makes no mention of the other sizes. Are the optical drive bays universally the same for all models?

It should...you might have to trim a bit here or there but it should fit I believe. The optical drives are all the same so the drive bays should be as well...at least in theory :)

quick q?, and I'm sure this has likely been answered in past, but are you guys all putting the SSD in the optical? is that a must? AND are we picking which is the bootable from there? Haven't done this kind of procedure in ages.

I got my 500G 7200 from Seagate replacement in the mail and might finally grab a small SSD bootable

quick q?, and I'm sure this has likely been answered in past, but are you guys all putting the SSD in the optical? is that a must? AND are we picking which is the bootable from there? Haven't done this kind of procedure in ages.

I got my 500G 7200 from Seagate replacement in the mail and might finally grab a small SSD bootable

Put the SSD in the HD bay and the mechanical HD in the optical drive bay.

Depends on how old your machine is as to how fast the optical bay interface is but I think most put the SSD in the drive bay (I did)