Any tips on how to get the SD Card reader to read to USB 2.0 speeds instead of the 1.0 slow speeds?

You cannot replace internal SC card reader but I guess you can use a PCMCIA SD card reader. Just find the fastest one, plug it into the PC slot and it’s ready to go.

So far, increased RAM to 2 GB, no issues (seems peaked at that level – but even with 24 windows open, rarely use the full memory)
Installed 320GB Blue Scorpio Hard drive (largest EIDE 2.5” available. No problems). This is the second upgrade. First was from 80 GB to 160 GB, now to 320 GB. Reinstalled Windows XP and software each time. Works quickly at first, but seems to bog down after some Windows or Antivirus update.
Battery died, so replaced with a $44 Li-Ion compatible. Works well.
Replacing the worn out keyboard. Ordered for $20 plus s/h
Blow off the cooling fan fins periodically. They have a tendency to accrue dust.

Any tips on how to get the SD Card reader to read to USB 2.0 speeds instead of the 1.0 slow speeds?

To Linux geek just bought a 7200 rpm hitachi hdd and stalled on the installation. It seems it isn’t as easy as the fellow made it out to be on the video. Any ideas on how to accomplish this short of destroying my zd7000?

What’s wrong? You cannot remove the hard drive?
Check out official service manual for you HP laptop. Go to the removal and replacement procedures chapter, it explains how to remove the hard drive.

The second time the power supply failed due to arcing of a bad solder joint between the mains lead from the mains jack to the PCB. I reached this joint using a desoldering tool + iron, removed the wire, cleaned the black arcing remnants, and re-soldered the joint. The power supply now works fine again.

Now after about 6 years, the batteries no longer hold significant charge and will need to be replaced. I may also replace the CCFL display light in order to bring brightness back to full, though the present level is still quite usable.

A 7200 rpm drive is fine, and so should a 10,000 rpm drive if they are available in 2.5″/IDE format. As someone else pointed out the power requirement is of some importance, however as drives progress power requirements drop, so a more recent 7200 rpm drive might use less power than an older 5400 rpm drive. I have used a Toshiba 7200 rpm 60Gb drive for more than a yr, and they can be bought on Ebay. The newer solid state drives are dropping in price and they will provide the fastest solution by far, though not the cheapest, at least for some time. Just make sure it has an IDE and not an SATA interface.

It is probably more important to make sure that the underneath vents of the ZD7000 are not too close to a surface. I have a 2″x2″ block of wood, as wide as the computer, sitting underneath the rear edge. This provides about 1-1/2″ of clearance there and the cooling fans now drop to minimum speed and noise level. A future task is to add non-slip material, such as strips cut from a mat used for car dashboards, or recesses for the computers rubber feet, however the block has never slipped. A sloped keyboard is also easy on the wrists.

Furthermore, it is very important to use a can of compressed air and briefly clean each vent, blowing out the dust etc. that has collected on the internal fans and heatsinks.

Providing vent clearance, and cleaning the fans/heatsinks, are essential to keeping the ZD7000 running cool and quiet.

Now the current issue is installing a new 160 GB Samsung 5400 rpm drive. I am getting the blinking cursor problem at start up after using Partition Magic to copy the boot partition from the previous drive, however I doubt that the 160 GB size is the problem.

DH

Thanks,

Sue

I purchased the drive and cloning software/USB enclosure from http://www.DriveSolutions.com.

Good luck with your upgrade(s).

BTW, the 4200rpm vs 5400rpm vs 7200rpm is simply a heat issue. My HP has dual fans so it should handle the extra heat just fine. I use a CoolPad as an extra precaution.

HP chat help told me that I must use a IDE 4200rpm drive no bigger than 100GB.

RPM (revolutions per minute) refers to how many times the hard drive platters rotate per minute. Using a 7200RPM drive in your laptop shouldn’t cause any problem but will increase the performance.
Now about the hard drive size. From my experience, if the laptop can handle a 100GB hard drive, it should be able to handle a larger drive too.

Why HP says you must use a 4200RPM 100GB drive? I don’t know. Apparently, the specifications were written a few years ago when a 100GB was the largest available drive and the HP person simply reading the script.

I could be wrong, but in my opinion you should be able to use a 7200RPM 120GB drive.

Simply Google 120GB drive for zd7000 and find a seller. Ask him a question about compatibility of this drive with zd7000 laptops.