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    Newbie needs help picking hard drive. Please help?

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by lithnights, Nov 19, 2008.

  1. lithnights

    lithnights Notebook Consultant

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    I posted some questions over in the Dell thread but there haven't been any replies so I'm wondering if I posted in the wrong area. They are pretty general questions about hard drives so I'm posting them here in the Hardware thread.


    I am attempting to upgrade the hard drive on my Dell 1505 laptop. It has 80GB which is now filled. I want to get a 160GB, 200GB or perhaps even higher (if not too expensive) and have searched the threads here, and researched sites like Newegg to get an idea of what is out there. I wanted to spend around $100 or so. I know I need SATA but other than that, I am wondering..

    1. Should I get 1.5 Gb/s or 3.0 Gb/s? What does this mean?

    2. Should I get 5400 or 7200? It seems 7200 is a bit more expensive. (Currently I have 5400 and am happy with it.) Not sure I'd notice the difference with 7200. I actually read the 17 page thread on comparisons between 5400 and 7200 but it isn't much clearer now.

    3. What brands should I look at? Hitachi, Seagate, WD etc. Any to stay away from?

    4. Most importantly, based on all of this, any specific suggestions on a HD?
    ....... e.g. Western Digital Scorpio Black WD3200BEKT 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s $100 on newegg ......HITACHI Travelstar 7K320 HTS723232L9A360 (0A57547) 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s $90 with rebate

    Thanks in advance!


    http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=322378
     
    lithnights, Nov 19, 2008
    #1
  2. K-TRON

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

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    I have the Dell E1505, and a Hitachi 7K320 160gb drive and it is running beautifully.
    You can get the 320gb 7200rpm version for about $100 on newegg/zipzoomfly.
    The E1505 only supports SATA 150 or (1.5), so there is no need for sata 3 (300)
    no notebook mechanical drive can max out the Sata 150 interface, so there is no performance difference between sata 150 and sata 300.

    My Hitachi 7K320 is super quiet, I barely hear it at all. It is actually quieter and more pwoer efficient than my 5400rpm drive.
    I can tell you right now, if you buy a Hitachi 7K320 160gb single platter drive it will run at 105F at idle, and up to 116F or so when playing music for a few hours. The highest temperature my drive has ever reached was 124F.

    the dual platter 320gb 7k320 will run a little hotter and noisier, because it has two platters.

    Its a great drive.
    Go for the 7K320

    K-TRON
     
    K-TRON, Nov 19, 2008
    #2
  3. atbnet

    atbnet Notebook Prophet

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    atbnet, Nov 19, 2008
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  4. Phil

    Phil Retired

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    No crossposting please it is against the forum rules. Thread closed.

    You may want to search because there are many threads about these drives.
     
    Phil, Nov 20, 2008
    #4