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    Hard disk upgrade on Lenovo N100

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by yehuda1, Apr 7, 2008.

  1. yehuda1

    yehuda1 Notebook Geek

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    Hi,

    A friend's HDD failed outside warranty, and I'd like to give him a hand and get it replaced for him.

    The notebook's model is Lenovo N100 0768 and the failed drive model is Hitachi 5K100 HTS541080G9SA00 (80GB SATA). The drive had started developing bad sectors that initially caused data loss and eventually crashed the OS. I have confirmed that the fault lies at the drive with Hitachi's Drive Fitness Test utility.

    I checked the prices at Lenovo and they charge a lot for replacing a drive outside warranty (even if you don't factor in reinstalling the OS) so I'm thinking about doing it myself. I'm a fairly informed enthusiast and I know my way but there's one thing that puts me off. It's something that someone once said about Lenovo notebooks. He said that if you install a HDD that is not "qualified" by Lenovo the BIOS willl complain at POST time every time you turn on the computer – an obvious annoyance, of course. I think the guy was talking from experience with Lenovo's T60 but I'm not sure.

    So far I haven't been able to find reference to that on Google or these boards so I kind of doubt it (you'd think it would raise an uproar), but I thought I'd ask to make sure. My replacement would be either Seagate 5400.4 or Hitachi 5K250 (checking on availability now). Should I face any issue?
     
    yehuda1, Apr 7, 2008
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  2. K-TRON

    K-TRON Hi, I'm Jimmy Diesel ^_^

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    You will have no problems upgrading the harddrive.
    The harddrive you picked will work in your notebook.

    I would go for the 250Gb hitachi over the seagate, cause it has a slightly higher transfer speed.

    K-TRON
     
    K-TRON, Apr 7, 2008
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  3. yehuda1

    yehuda1 Notebook Geek

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    Thanks for the reassuring reply.

    I spoke with two technical reps at Lenovo. They said that as far as they know, there's no HDD restriction to speak of.

    If anyone has anything to add, I'm all ears.
     
    yehuda1, Apr 7, 2008
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  4. K-TRON

    K-TRON Hi, I'm Jimmy Diesel ^_^

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    There is one harddrive restriction, the Hitachi 5k500 series. It is 12.5mm thick instead of the standard 9mm thick. It simply will not fit into your laptop. This drive has not been released yet, so you do not have to worry about it.

    The drive you picked is fine.

    K-TRON
     
    K-TRON, Apr 7, 2008
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  5. yehuda1

    yehuda1 Notebook Geek

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    yehuda1, Apr 7, 2008
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  6. yehuda1

    yehuda1 Notebook Geek

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    I ended up getting the 160GB Momentus 5400.4 and installed it without problems.

    Thanks again K-TRON. See you around.
     
    yehuda1, Apr 20, 2008
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