Different SATA types

[SexySteaks]

Forgive me for just dumping this in the general category, but i cannot find an appropriate sub-forum for my question. That being said, here is said question.

 

     I am going to upgrade my L655-S5096 Toshiba Satellite from its old, stock hard drive to a new SSD. However, no matter how much I look, I cannot find out enough information on whether my hard drive is SATA, SATA II, or SATA III. Why is this system of categorizing used for drives, and how do i find out which one i can put into my laptop?

[gergy008]

As long as it is SATA, it doesn't matter what you use. SATA is both backwards and forwards compatible.

 

Let me explain in a little more depth:

You have a SATA II interface on the drive bay for a laptop. You put a SATA III SSD in there. It will be capped at SATA II speeds only.
You have a SATA II interface on the drive bay for a laptop. You put a SATA I HDD in there. It will be capped at the SATA I speeds.

So it goes off the lower bit rate for the interface you choose; but will always work fine.

[Guest Kloaked]

It's Sata 2 since it's a SATA-300 drive.

 

EDIT: Since you're wanting to upgrade, what you need to look for is laptop-size drives.

[Glenwing]

They're not different types, they're different revisions. They're all intercompatible as well, you'll just be limited to the bandwidth of the lowest device, which doesn't really matter for mechanical hard drives.