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I purchased a used laptop which came without a hard drive or caddy. Is the caddy really a necessary component in all laptops? I know this is not always true, but in mine the hard drive inserts directly into the SATA port.

I'm a bit concerned that there is nothing securing the rear end of the hard drive to the case. Could this stress the SATA connection? Does the caddy help isolate the hard drive from the typical mechanical shocks laptops undergo?

There is no problem buying one, but I don't want to wait the week it will take to get here.

Vigabrand
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For short term use maybe - drives are reasonably tough and should survive short periods on their own.

Lets consider the actual purpose of a hard drive caddy. As opposed to a proper bay in the system, which some cheaper consumer laptops use, it makes swapping drives less messy. Pop out old caddy, put in a new one. Many newer caddies also have rubber gaskets around them, presumably for better impact and vibration protection, and they do reduce vertical and horizontal play. While your drive goes in, it may be a pain to keep it in, in a mobile situation... (and having your drive untimely ripped, while running, and falling to the ground may result in very nasty things happening) and it may be difficult to remove once your new caddy arrives.

That bit of plastic and metal has a purpose aside from making your system look pretty. Wait for it.

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