HDD Replacement.

OK,
So my mom's laptop is having a smart system failure and its HDD needs replacing. A) Do i need to keep a lot in mind when buying a replacement (ie compatibility? B) Brands i should look out for? C) FYI the laptop is an old HP ze4610. Thanks

 

a) Just make sure you get the correct form factor and interface - 2.5" ATA6(ATA100).

b) Hitachi, Seagate, WD are the top 3 brands IMO. Fujitsus are pretty silent and reliable. I wouldnt recommend Toshiba as they are a bit noisy and even with 16mb cache they can only manage to perform at the same level as others with 8mb cache.

 

Seagtes offer a five year warranty if you are looking for peace of mind. Make sure you get at least a 5400RPM drive for better performance.

 

And make sure the height of the replacement drive is correct. If the HP can take only a 9.5mm height drive, then obviously any drive thicker than that will not fit. And while most notebook replacement drives now are 9.5mm it is always best to make sure as there are still some older thicker ones out there.

 

well this is a 3 year old (maybe more) note book. It is currently running a toshiba HDD (bleh!). If my old hdd was bigger than that could i still use a 9.5mm? Im asking cuz first you have to put the hdd into a cage like thing

 

No, it has to be the same size. Just take your old drive out and check the markings on it. It should give you the info on the form factor and interface.

 

If you really want to be sure just pull out your old drive and measure it. Just make sure to remove both plug and battery before you do this. But chances are you are using a standard 2.5 inch notebook drive.

I'd go with Seagate or Hitachi and make sure that you get at least 5400 rpm. Seagate offer 5 year warranty and good performance but at a price premium. Hitachi is also very good. Samsung is cheap and very quiet but a bit slow. No experience with Fujitsu, WD and Toshiba.

 

I've read elsewhere in reviews that the Toshiba drives are noisy but I would contest this strongly.

They make a little noise when reading and writing, I agree. However, this doesn't annoy. In fact, you tend to expect it and it's a comfort because you can hear the drive doing it's job when you want it to, so it's no problem whatsoever.

What would be annoying would be a constant whine when the drive is just spinning all the time, doing nothing, and in that respect I just don't believe you can get a quieter drive. My computer (HP/Compaq NC6000 with Toshiba MK series drive) as I write is making absolutely no noise at all. It's TOTALLY silent and such a contrast to what I've had before that I wouldn't have anything BUT a Toshiba drive (indeed I've just bought another larger one but haven't fitted it yet.)

Honestly, it makes no noise in spinning whatsoever. If slight clicking as it reads and writes is annoying to you, then OK, try something different. I'm not sure how noisy other drives are. I wouldn't even call this "noisy" writing, but you can definitely hear something, but spinning - no, not at all. It's the quietest I've ever (not) heard.

 

I have been buying WD drives for years now and they have all met my standards !!

 

Toshiba makes the worst hard drives out there, I would strongly suggest against purchasing one of those.

Definitely agree mtrivs. Western Digital . . that's a quality drive. You won't find a better one. They don't make that many laptop drives though.

A Hitachi would be my second choice, very good quality drive, plus Hitachi offers the 7200RPM models.

 

Just fitted a Toshiba MK8032GAX in place of MK3021GAS and I have to admit the MK8032GAX is slightly noisier than my old one when spinning. There is an audible noise when it's spinning, louder than the super-quiet MK3021GAS and because of that, at the moment, I'm finding it hard to get used to. It still would be unfair to class it noisy, but you couldn't hear the MK3021GAS at all and I can hear this one. I guess most people would still call it "whisper quiet" though. It's definitely quieter when working (reading/writing), which personally doesn't attract or concern me. I prefer silent spinning and for reason I've got to admit I'd prefer the older MK3021GAS.

 

I bet I can make one that is worse.

 

I have also had nothing but good experiences with Western Digital. Only drives I use. I have 3 harddrives from Western Digital in my possession, 2 desktop drives, and 1 notebook drive.

Thinking about getting a bigger notebook drive so I'm waiting for Western Digital's drive size to get bigger.

Actually thinking about getting my first Seagate, but they're kind of expensive.

Cheers,
Mike