Optical bay caddy for Early 2011 15" MBP

[brunelbushi]

Hi all,

I've spent a good few hours trawling the web for info about adding an SSD to my mac using an optical bay caddy.
I currently plan on buying a samsung 840 series 256Gb for £119, using it in the HDD bay and moving my existing HDD to the optical bay.
My problem is that I can't seem to find (looked through Amazon & Ebay) an optical drive caddy that matches the model number for my MBP (which I believe is MC723xxx). There are loads that work for the models up to 2011 but they don't specifically list my model.
Can anyone direct me towards a good value caddy available in the uk that they have used successfully that would fit my MBP as well?
I am also open to a bundle that would include an external caddy for my optical drive.
Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[simsaladimbamba]

If you want one where the 2011 model is listed as compatible, though nothing changed between 2009 and 2012 with the innards of the ODD and its connections, go here.

 

[brunelbushi]

Thanks for the link.
If nothing has changed with the optical drive - would this work for me?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B008F89KKA

 

[simsaladimbamba]

Thanks for the link.
If nothing has changed with the optical drive - would this work for me?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B008F89KKA

Yes, as the third review on the article's site is coming from a late 2011 MBP (and the difference between the early and late 2011 MBP models are only CPU and GPU related).

 

[brunelbushi]

Yes, as the third review on the article's site is coming from a late 2011 MBP (and the difference between the early and late 2011 MBP models are only CPU and GPU related).

Great - thanks for the piece of mind.

 

[ccapman670]

I'm not positive they ship to the UK but the optibay from MCE looks good and is cheaper.
http://www.mcetech.com/optibay/

 

[brunelbushi]

I'm not positive they ship to the UK but the optibay from MCE looks good and is cheaper.
http://www.mcetech.com/optibay/

Thanks but they are over £50 to get over here so I went with one from amazon.

 

[NewishMacGuy]

Be aware that the 2011 MBP-15 will only support SATA II drives reliably in the optibay. The issue is pretty well documented at OWC.


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[brunelbushi]

Be aware that the 2011 MBP-15 will only support SATA II drives reliably in the optibay. The issue is pretty well documented at OWC.


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Thanks nmg. I plan on putting the new SSD into the main bay and the old HDD into the optibay for this reason.

 

[NewishMacGuy]

Thanks nmg. I plan on putting the new SSD into the main bay and the old HDD into the optibay for this reason.

That's probably the thing to do, just expect it to be louder and less reliable (no SMS protection).


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[Romarion]

I've tried 2 fenvi caddies that work great with SATA-II 500GB HDDs in the optibay.

However, they don't work with a SATA-III 1TB drive.

Not sure if 'OWC Data Doubler bundle' caddies work with SATAIII 1TB drives in early 2011 MBPS...