[HELP] SATA based SSD or PCIe based M.2 SSD for ASUS ROG GL551JW-DS71

[rassomoss]

Hi All;

I'm planning to buy a ASUS ROG GL551JW-DS71 http://store.asus.com/us/item/201503AM110000025/A18486, i need to have a laptopt witch is not heavy (lots of travel), i have a budget of 1100$, i plan on using this laptop for Work essentially (virtualization templates, POC) and for gaming ocasionnaly (i need it to be able to run games smooth when needed )

I saw yesterday in this forum a post about GL751 series witch come with SSD's factory-installed and those without, and there is a great debate about the abscence of M.2 connector and stand (metal piece on witch the ssd stands) with certain models and not others.

Fact is ASUS ROG GL551JW-DS71 dosen't come with an SSD drive, i want to be able to add a conventional SATAIII SSD (add not replace the HDD), question is, knowing that i already bought a sata based ssd, is there a second SATA connector in this model so i can plug it in ?

I saw in this guide and it isn't very clear http://rog.asus.com/376092014/g-series-gaming-laptops/g551-upgrade-guide/
i also saw a comment on amazon sating that the DS74 version (witch comes with 128 SSD factory installed ) is based on M.2 SSD and that it will void the warranty of i one decided to change that to a bigger one (bigger M.2 pcie one i guess)

One last question : i saw in the same topic concerns about the speed of the 2nd drive lane in the 751 and it seems that it is functionning at 3GB/s (SATA II) will it be the case for DS71 ?

Thanks in advance for all the effort helping me in this matter, i realy need an advice so i can order asap.

[rassomoss]

seriously with all the researches i've done on internet, i can't find any valid source of information confirming that this laptop supports 2 x 2.5" hdd's or ssd's, on amazon people who bought it say that there is only one drive bay and are buying caddys like this one to compensate witch btw will function on (SATA II 3Gb/s and are definetly not suitable for an SSD while asus support confirm the contrary, they even say if you try to install your own ssd it will void the warranty !!!







I no longer know who to believe : users who bought the laptop or Asus support !

even the user manual of this thing does not include the informations needed, and btw all the user manuals are the same for all the models only minor model specific information changes (it seems asus did not spend too much time on documentation) i seriously i'm gonna look elsewhere as for the possibility of adding a superior capacity ssd is crucial for my intended use.

[BramC]

Bump!
I have this exact question.
I bought the GL551JW-DS71 and before i purchased it i called ASUS support and asked a few times "if i order the DS71 which is without the SSD included, will there still be a 2nd bay available?" And they told me yes in multiple ways. But when i received it, after opening it up, there was only 1 bay slot...and the HDD was sitting right in there. So i returned it...
now i want to buy his brother the DS74, which does include the SSD, but i would like to bump it up to 500gb. So what i'm wondering is if i'll be able to switch out the 128gb SSD (included) with a 500gb SSD? Or is it buried too far.
We need some GL551JW-DS74 owners to come and save the day!!

[abhinav_0160]

Hey there, I sent a mail to HIDevolution and asked them to do a teardown video of GL551JW DS71 to add an SSD on the mobo. They did a video within 5 days and sent the link to me. Here's the video. Please share it around. This ends the confusion once and for all.

Mini mSATA IT IS!!!!!

You can thank me later 😛