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    HP Pavilion ex4540ca HDD swap

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by kowell, Aug 6, 2009.

  1. kowell

    kowell Notebook Evangelist

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    I'm helping out a friend and restoring her old HP pavilion ze4540ca laptop to a usable state and I'm pretty sure the HDD is near death so I want to change it. I'm not sure if I need a SATA or PATA HDD as I don't know the difference between the 2 (yes you CAN laugh).

    I found a good deal on TigerDirect.ca for a "Seagate Momentus 7200.2 120GB 2.5" Mobile Hard Drive - 7200RPM, 8MB, SATA-300, OEM" which would be a nice upgrade from the current 40GB 5400rpm HDD.

    Would this work?

    Thanks
     
    kowell, Aug 6, 2009
    #1
  2. t30power

    t30power Notebook Deity

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    Take a look at the hard drive first, if it have a long line of golden pins (2 columns) then you need PATA, if it have no pins but just 2 indentations then it is a SATA. Or just read the label on the HDD, it should tell you if it's PATA or SATA.

    I'd recommend you the Hitachi 5K500.B series, single platter versions are cool and quiet drives.
     
    t30power, Aug 6, 2009
    #2
  3. kowell

    kowell Notebook Evangelist

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    Thanks for the input.

    I just realised that this old thing needs a ATA 100 HDD... This might complicate things a little.... :(
     
    kowell, Aug 6, 2009
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  4. Commander Wolf

    Commander Wolf can i haz broadwell?

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    It does take a PATA hard drive, but that shouldn't really "complicate" anything. PATA hard drives are still fairly available at Newegg and even some brick and mortars; they're just gonna be a bit more expensive than SATA drives of the same capacity.

    Might want to look into this drive?

    http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=264209
     
    Commander Wolf, Aug 6, 2009
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