Looking for a laptop internal hard drive.

Hey all,

I'm looking for an internal hard drive for my HP HDX16t. The only requirements are that it must be compatible with my laptop, have 1TB of space, 7200 RPM.

Price does not matter to me. If there is anything I should know about Windows 7 concerning installing a new internal HD, please let me know. I had upgraded to W7 Home Premium, 64-bit.

Thanks for your help!

Mr. Mysterious

 

You aren't going to find a 1TB, 7,200RPM hard drive any time soon. However, they are available in a 5,400RPM model, such as the Western Digital WD10TEVT.

 

yea but it is 12mm instead of 9.5mm that usually laptop harddisk have...
wonder if it fits on HDX16.....

 

Correct, there's no such animal at present for laptop.

Even so, you still need to consider your application first. Some programs (like CS4) require a 7200 rpm hard drive for optimal operation, so consider carefully before you buy. After all, you don't want to be left out in the cold with a lot of disc space you cannot use.

 

The CS4 suite works perfectly on a 5400rpm drive.

There are very few applications that will require a SSD or 7200rpm drive etc.

And those that will "require" it are only applications that need to say record video to a HDD, do server queries etc.
Specialist applications.

 

Ah, thanks all. I'm well aware that I could get a 1TB HDD which is external for around $100 these days.

How long do you guys think it will take until manufacturers start coming out with 1TB HDD for laptops?

Mr. Mysterious

 

Nobody can tell you - they might all shift to SSDs... they might not.

In the long run it will most likely exist, that's all we can say.

 

By the way, I've heard almost nothing but good things about the X25-M. Could you give me your impressions on it?

Mr. Mysterious

 

My impressions on it? On the drive itself - nothing but good

Pretty quick
great benchmarks - oh, and it increases battery life over a HDD

 

Generally speaking, once you start looking at 2.5" laptop hard drives that are over 640GB, you're looking at 12mm anyway.

 

u can put in 500GB Hitachi 7K500's... fastest mobile hard drive and with 2 hard drives slots in the HDX16t , u get 1TB of storage...

 

Since it sounds like space is your primary concern, I would only recommend the Hitachi 7K500.

This post with an overview of some of my Win 7 install strategies might be of some use for you:

See:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=441674


Hope this helps.

Good luck and Happy Holidays!

 

If that were true then there would be no reason to make 10,000 rpm or 15,000 rpm drives? In any event, I'm just relaying the manufacturers requirements. Maybe your projects just haven't stressed your system enough yet?

 

I haven't said there are no applications that require them - just very few.

And with respect to CS4 - most of these don't have to write data in realtime - maybe with Soundbooth and the video one there could be a use - but else they don't have to record large amounts of data in realtime and hence don't need a 7200rpm drive.

 

I think also the key word here is "require". Even if the program doesn't require an extremely quick access drive, I don't think there's any argument that having one can be extremely helpful. For example, who really "requires" a Ferrari? That doesn't mean there's no market for them.

 

You could put a 12.7mm 1TB 2.5" HDD in place of your optical drive using:

12.7mm sata caddy (ebay)
12.7mm sata caddy (newmodus)

See DIY: Adding SSD or HDD storage using an optical bay caddy for more details, including how to hotswap the optical drive back in or convert to a USB unit.

 

Well that's good to know. However, now that you mention it, manufacturers should be doing a better job and taking the initiative to design their product with modular compartments. Especially with the ever increasing price of notebooks these days, and quick obsolescence, buyers are becoming a lot more wise with their purchases. The ease of upgradability and modular design is certainly what I will be looking for in my next notebook.

 

I'll give you mine: it's expensive! And typically limited to 256 GB

 

i doubt they will... they want to earn more and more so the less upgradeable the notebook is , the better it is for them.. as we have to buy more from them... u can dream on as long as capitalism is there...

 

That type of monopolistic thinking has killed many a manufacturer before. Unlike cell phones, a $2000+ price tag is just too much to spend just to have your unit go obsolete in 6 months. I think the newness is just about worn off and people are beginning to wake up to that. So even if the big ticket manufacturers don't comply, the little guys will come in and take their business.

I think there's a market for an upgradeable laptops (remember desktop origin?), and whomever comes up with the design first, will make bank.

 

Modular design has one significant disadvantage - its heavy.

The chassis on my laptop is less than 1mm thick - if it were modular it would have to be thicker to have the same strength and hence heavier...

Next thing:
The easier it is to take apart the laptop the more likely someone will while breaking it...
(and yes, HDD slots, SATA connectors are pretty foolproof but you always will find people who find easy ways to break them)

 

One word: composites!

Actually, the same thing can be said of portability. So does that mean you will be giving up your laptop?

 

Guess what, my laptop's chassis is carbon fibre reinforced plastic.

Every slot needs a stronger material at the "edge" - small holes don't necessarily affect a material's stability - large slots as would be needed for components do - and composites don't help here.

As I said - the chassis in my laptop is less than 1mm thick - if I cut a large hole into it I loose stability... heck, the palmrest is I think 0,3mm thick... (aluminium)

My laptop weighs 1,79 (or 1,86???) kg - I wouldn't want to sacrifice that small weight for 2 stupid flaps - and also, you can generally access things like the HDD and RAM - processor tends to be accessible too, while a tad fiddly.

As long as Graphics cards are soldered to the motherbaord they don't need access.

And what you shouldn't forget - if you want to be able to upgrade everything, you buy a desktop, not a laptop.

And speaking of upgradeable laptops... you can buy barebones that you can upgrade, no?

The thing is, my laptop is 13,3" - you might be thinking about the 18" desktop replacement - but mention that

On my little Vaio - given the choice between no flaps (I do have two at the bottom) fro loosing weight and flaps I'd actually take less weight.

 

First, not all carbon fiber composites are created equal. I've seen some that a wafer thin and yet as strong centimeter for centimeter as their metal or plastic counterparts. So the biggest limitation here would be in cost, not design or material.

For the time being. But remember, these assembly techniques are a primarily a cost cutting measure.

Incorrect. Upgradeablity can be applied to either.

Yes, but you just made my point!

I am, but it's not exclusive.

Just my point, that should be a choice, not a given.

 

A market? Certainly. Is it big enough to support a company? That... is the question. Don't forget we're in semi-select company here; the average user isn't necessarily as capable of making upgrades as we are. Many of them will just buy a notebook, use it until it no longer suits their needs, and then buy a new one, especially with the proliferation of cheap, sub-$1000 netbooks and CULVs.

Additionally, just making the components modular may not be enough; with the advancement of technology, a lot of the time the problems we're hitting aren't actually with the fact that you can't slot in the components, it's the interface that's getting upgraded. Like PATA to SATA to SATA2. Or USB1.1 to USB2.0 to (upcoming sometime) USB3.0. Or from Socket P for Core 2 to µPGA-989 for i7.

And the final point is, don't barebones already fit that market? If the market was truly big enough to support it, I'd think we'd see a lot more barebones selling than we currently do.

So, it seems to me that yes, we do have a fair amount of that choice already; and people aren't bothering to pay for it.

 

I'm referring solely to premium grade laptops

It would be a start. And in time, upgrading would become universal

That a totally different animal than what I'm referring to. Just as Windows developed plug & play components. Manufacturers can also develop plug & play hardware. After all, just as not everyone can afford to purchase a new car every four years. So after market parts in the industry that supplys that market

That's because it's not marketed properly, not because they don't want to.

 

the largest 7k2 drive im seeing is the 500gb hiatchi at newgg.com

 

Also more money !

I doubt that hp , Dell etc are going bankrupt any soon with the not very upgradeable laptops...

 

Tell that to GM. They were the world's automobile leader for over 70 years!

 

So far the biggest 9.5 mm drive is of 640GB. Another option, as many of us tend to do is just wait for a "couple" of months and see if we get a 1TB drive, thought it will probably be 5400 rpm.

 

Well... I'm pretty sure you can change the radio on GMs Toyota has them built complety firmly into the car and does well... (Hey, EU commission, fine Toyota for this, that's all you are useful for... (see Micrososft and IE8)) - but I think that's part of a fact you accept when you buy a laptop.

Its overall not an upgradeable device.

 

We're starting to drift _way_ off-topic, so this'll be my last post in this thread about this, at least until we start a new thread.

[Prices]
Well, even at the $2K+ pricepoint, the question becomes how much more will making a notebook "upgradeable" cost? If, for example, it'll approximately double the price (due to engineering costs, extra materials, what have you) how is it an advantage when you have to pay $4K for a bulkier, heavier, upgradable notebook vs $2K for the non-upgradable one, and down the line in, say 4 years when you want to upgrade, you either pay $2K for a brand new, upgraded laptop, or pay, say, $1K for upgrade parts to upgrade your 4 year old one, and those upgrade parts may not even be as good as the "new" stuff because it won't fit the old interfaces (like new drives are SATA, and the old drives you have are PATA).

[Interface]
The problem is, you generally can't upgrade the interface without a new motherboard. And as technology advances, you can't necessarily make interfaces backwards compatible to the extent you'd need. USB is the perfect example. Sure, you can use USB1.1 devices in a USB2.0 slot, but you can't use a USB2.0 device in a USB1.1 slot; the advances in technology to get to USB2.0 means that USB1.1 just can't support the power and bandwidth necessary for it.

And while yes, I suppose you could go to the expense of designing a new motherboard to support this (some would call outdated) upgradeable notebook, changing a motherboard is not a small task; I'd call it akin to changing out the motor of a car. It's certainly doable, but it's not a user-friendly task.

[Barebones]
I don't see how barebones are different from what you're talking about... the definition of barebones, as I see it (in a notebook sense, anyway) is a chassis, motherboard, keyboard, and LCD where you slot in all the other parts (CPU, HDD, ODD, RAM, sometimes GPU). As a result, upgrades for any part you slotted in are easy, as long as it fits the interface. Note that even after-market parts for cars in your example have to fit the existing interface of the car they're being bought for; you can't (usually) shove a tank diesel engine into your 4-door passenger sedan.

[not enough market]
I'm still not convinced that's the problem, I feel the problem is still more that people just really aren't interested in that kind of capability. Heck, I know lots of people that just buy new desktops instead of upgrading the ones they have, and I think we all agree that desktops are, for the most part, fairly upgradable, especially compared to notebooks.

 

My 'truth' on this matter is that upgrades don't justify themselves anymore.

A new desktop/platform is a great and justifiable upgrade, but if we're tearing down an existing (working) system to get current tech, that is somehow backwards in todays economy. Backwards because two working machines for 120% of the cost of 'only' an upgrade is well worth it. Backwards because if we're only saving the 'tower', we're not really moving forward.

For notebooks, this is doubly true. The new tech will bring many advances that not only negate upgrading a notebook cost-wise, but will actually be a backward step because the platform to be upgraded will require a new chassis to be effective.

An example is the debate over in the thread 'Is this a netbook' by Phil. The Acer Timeline 1810tz pounds Atom based netbooks into the ground and pulverizes them. This $500 net/notebook lasts almost 10 hrs on battery with a dual core cpu inside. Let's say we had a 'monster' upgradeable chassis (and compatible parts) from even a year ago - we still wouldn't replicate this sub 1.5Kg wonder no matter how much upgradability we had, right?

Notebooks have always been the 'buy the newer one to have the better one' items in the computer world - soon desktops will be that way too. Why, for desktops? Mostly because of price and the convenience factor.

Cheers!

 

That would be a good bet. Still, that's a lot of storage.

Chassis and motherboard are a given. Everything else should have plug & play capability: At least that's the criteria for my next laptop. Half of desktops sold today no longer even come with a predetermined monitor. Granted, you won't be able to adjust the size in a laptop, but there a lot of leeway when it comes to the advancing technology of resolution and backlighting. My point is, I shouldn't have to wait 4 years or buy a whole new laptop to get in on that.

As for keyboards, the changeability of something that simple should be a no-brainer. To have to take your computer to a shop to replace something like that is just pure greed built into the design. I was furious with HP intentionally making their keyboard a non-consumer changeable device.

 

Again, I'm not taking about netbooks since they're cheap by definition. I'm speaking solely about premium level notebooks.

That was before they took the lead over desktops in units sold.

Unlikely. The upgradeability would be even better applicable to desktops, especially since the already have the lead.