Cons of going from a 250GB HD to a 320 or 500? (internal on Latitude)

Im running out of space with my 250gb in my Latitude E6400 (@7200RPM).
Are there any specific cons with going from 250 to say 320gb or 500gb, internally?

Id like to go with 500GB if possible; can you recommend a brand/model #?

 

There are no real cons. The differences btw HDDs are pretty small. If your current drive is single platter, the bigger one will draw a little more power (but not enough to noticeably impact battery) and might be louder. The only 500GB 7200RPM drive is Seagate's 7200.12 though there are several 500GB 5400RPM options that perform just as well as the 7200RPM drive in real life such as WD, Fujitsu, and Hitachi.

 

Hi akwit

I installed a WD Scorpio Blue 500GB hard-drive and it runs perfectly. It's 5200rpm, thus cool and quiet, but its performance still keeps up with 7200rpm drives (because, amongst other things, it only uses two platters instead of three). Well-recommended

 

The Seagate 7200.4 is the fastest 500GB. The Hitachi 5K500.B is also a good performer and runs cool (=low power consumption). See Tom's Hardware charts.

John

 

I had previously upgraded to the Seagate 500 GB. I figured it was a safe move - it was exactly the same as what came with my Latitude, including the shock protection feature, just a larger capacity. My Latitude also came with the 250 GB version, a Seagate Momentus ST9250421ASG. I upgraded to the 500 GB version, a Seagate Momentus ST9500420ASG. Both are 7200 RPM.

However, there is a very serious issue with the 500 GB Seagate, apparently firmware related. It is shipped by Apple in a number of their Mac Book Pros, and there are a LOT of people reporting "clicking" issues: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2049659 It is unclear whether this is due to the shock sensor or power management, but definitely appears to be firmware related. I don't have a Mac, but have the exact same issues in my Latitude - including the entire system freezing for a second or more while the heads are locked. A few users have reported exchanging the drive through RMA with successfully results. I'll be getting mine back on Wednesday, and will see if the exchange has resolved things, or if I need to wait for a yet-to-be-released firmware update - which would probably require another RMA exchange.

So for now, I'd strongly consider the alternatives posted here so far by sgogeta4, Jonty, and John Ratsey.