3/21/2022

Lenovo Thinkpad T440 M 2 Slot

Well if you want to replace the stock HDD with M.2 2280 SSD then it can be done by using M.2 Adapter (01AY476) and M.2 Adapter Cable (01ER035). Moreover, if you want two drives for instance HDD+SSD or SSD+SSD, you can use WWAN slot which will take M.2 2242 SSD without any adapters. I can't find it on the BOM for the T440p, but for the T440s, I have FRU 04X3827, which is a 16GB SSD on a M.2 adapter that plugs into a connector in the T440s main board, and the middle connector in your photo looks like the corresponding one.

  • Lenovo ThinkPad T460 14in Notebook Intel Core I5-6200U up to 2.8G,Webcam,1920x1080,8G RAM,256G SSD,USB 3.0,HDMI,Win 10 Pro 64 Bit,Multi-Language Support English-Spanish (Renewed) 4.2 out of 5 stars 90.
  • But at first check out the function of small one sata III 2,5' and two m.2 slots. Usually new laptops with HDD are shipping with cache SSD drive - cache only orand hibernation partition storage. T440s might have three slots for drives - m.2 SSD which is placed in the 3rd slot.
  • Lenovo ThinkPad T440 - 4th Generation Intel Core i5-4200U ( 1.60GHz 1600MHz 3MB) overview and full product specs on CNET.
OK, before I buy one of these, I want to be sure I know what I'm getting into. I looked at the user manual] and found several notes about the M.2/NGFF drive slots. It has two, in addition to a 2.5' drive bay. But... when I read the manual, it says:
and
• If your computer is equipped with both a hard disk drive and an M.2 solid-state drive, do not use the
M.2 solid-state drive as a bootable device. The M.2 solid-state drive is used for “cache” function and to
support the Intel Rapid Start Technology.
and
• If your computer is equipped with both a hard disk drive and an M.2 solid-state drive, you are not
recommended to use the M.2 solid-state drive as a bootable device. The M.2 solid-state drive is designed
and developed for the “cache” function purpose only. If you use the M.2 solid-state drive as a bootable
device, its reliability is not guaranteed.
User Manual Link
Lenovo

Lenovo Thinkpad T440 M 2 Slot Machines

Lenovo thinkpad t440 m 2 slot priceMy question is... why all of these caveats? Is there some sort of technical reason I couldn't or shouldn't use an M.2 drive as a bootable drive? Why have an extra slot then? Why would it be 'unreliable'?

Lenovo Thinkpad T440 M 2 Slot Price

Could someone with some expertise about this sort of drive and/or Lenovo weigh in here? I understand that NGFF drives are new, expensive and at this point are often used for caching, but I'd guess that over time capacities will expand, and it would be nice to be able to upgrade down the road and move my boot/system drive over to a new SSD. But I'm not going to buy something that I can't upgrade.