Bare vs. retail hard drive for G73JH?

I plan on taking out the current hard drive in my G73JH, putting it in an enclosure, and replacing it with a faster one. Since the old one is gonna go in the enclosure, I'll be reusing the caddy and mounting hardware from my current setup. Would there be any reason to pay for a retail package of a drive over just getting the bare drive? I mean, are there any required cables or other hardware included in the retail package which I don't have and which are necessary for installation of the new drive? Or maybe there are no cables at all and the drive just plugs into the SATA connection on the motherboard?

I know I sound really stupid, but I've never actually taken apart a laptop before, only desktops, so I don't even know how the hard drive is attached.

 

No. Everything you need you already have. All you need to do is swap the drive and you're good to go. Open the bottom, unscrew the drive, swap it with the new one and reverse everything. It's very simple.

 

This, at total of 8 screws it all you'll have to manage for a HDD swap. Been using bare drives for a while in laptops and never needed extra hardware. If you want recommendations on an external enclosure we can provide some as well. I've been using Vantec and Mukii enclosures without any problems for a while now. The Vantecs are a bit fatter, but shorter, the Mukii are thinner, but longer.

 

I got an offer for an used Seagate momentus xt 500gb harddisk for 75$ including shipping , is it worth? or an normal 500gb 7200rpm for 50$ ?

 

It is ok price if it is a hybird depending on status,
I highly not recommend getting used HDD as warranty is huge. unless no shipping involved and you know the status of the drive.(or real cheap that it worth a gamble)

 

Thanks for the replies. Yes, I would appreciate any recommendations for 2.5'' SATA to USB 2.0 hard drive enclosures. Besides those two brands you mentioned, are Rosewills any good?

 

Rosewill usually makes decent products at a very good price. I went with Mukii and Vantec since the enclosures were aluminum mostly black and i got killer deals on some of them. I don't really like silver with black enclosures.

This one for example has been serving me well: Newegg.com - Vantec NexStar TX 2.5" SATA to USB 2.0 External Hard Drive/SSD Enclosure - Model NST-210S2-BK It comes with a carry bag and a mini screwdriver.

 

@Baiii
Yes its a hybrid and used for a month , is it worth the price?
hybrid compared to normal ones, whic one will brick first?
I know hdd's die easily , up to now 3 hdd's were killed by me
so is it worth to get the hybrid drive?
thanks.