New Laptop comes with a 7200rpm HDD that vibrates noticeably. Any HDDs out there that don't?

So I just got an HP 4530s, and it came with a 320gb 7200rpm HDD. It's fast, but you can feel the drive spinning under your palm (where the drive is located). So I tested my 5400rpm drive and the vibrations were almost gone. So I'm wondering... does anyone know of any laptop HDDs that have almost no vibration but are still pretty fast?

 

Test the 320 again...

Usually it has more to do with the way they are mounted.

And, yes, they are called SSDs.

 

I mounted the 7200rpm multiple times to see if it was a seating issue, and that improved it, but barely. When I put in the 5400rpm, the vibrations were almost gone.

And yeah, SSDs are great. I've got one in my desktop. But it's pretty hard to justify a $400 upgrade in a $460 laptop. =\

 

It may seem hard to justify that kind of upgrade, but keep in mind that more than likely (pick a good one: Intel, 160GB or larger) you'll use it over many systems or be able to sell it for a good price down the road.

If the vibrations bother you that much - it is easily worth it, imo, just on it's own.

 

Is there room around the hard drive? Sometimes, you may be able to reduce vibrations by seating the hard drive with a bit of soft foam as well.

 

tilleroftheearth- I thought the same thing! Then I thought... am I just making a really good excuse to spend a bunch of money? Definitely considering it, though. Having a 240gb SSD layin' around doesn't sound too bad.

MidnightSun- There is actually a good 20mm of room around the drive. And HP already put a little foam in there, but it could probably be done better. So I think I'll give this a shot first and see how it goes.

 

How expensive is foam where you are? Lol.

Otherwise some silicone rubber would work too.

 

Foam is no good - it will compact over time.

Try finding some rubber strips that you can strategically position instead.

(Remember that a little 'too loose' is better than a little 'too tight' if you want the vibrations minimized as much as possible).


And, forget about the 240GB SSD offerings: 250GB or 160GB are the way to go (Intel 510 Series or Intel 320 Series...).

 

My Scorpio black 750GB doesn't cause any noticeable vibrations...feeling around around the laptop where the drive is.

Yeah try some rubber bits/washers between the chassis and the drive somehow.

 

Thanks for all the input, guys.

So I decided to completely solve the problem and ordered an SSD. I got a Samsung 470 256gb SSD which is actually pretty competitive when compared to the Crucial C300 256gb SSD and it's about $45 cheaper. The Samsung is only Sata II, but it really milks it for what it's worth. And it's Random Read speeds are really impressive. It's even got the Vertex 3 beat on random reads. Random writes... well, that's a different story.

When compared to the Intel 510 256gb, it holds it's own, but loses out in a few categories. But I think the Samsung more than makes up for it by being $160 cheaper.

So yeah, I guess that turned into my preliminary mini review of the Samsung 470. Next step, actually using the thing.