Specs for SZ61WN HDD replacement?

My Vaio SZ61wn's HDD is slowly dying from Redundancy Cyclic Error thingymebobs.

I'm looking to replace the HDD, but I am unsure of which type of drive I should replace it with. Sata 2.5? Can I use 7200rpm if I'm willing to take the battery consumption hit? Size limitations? Brand?

Thanks in advance for your help...

 

Most likely it is SATA 2.5" 9.5mm thick, but if you give the HDD model number (look in Device Manager) then the specs can be checked.

Any SATA 2.5" 9.5mm thick (if that is what it is) should work. My favourite at the moment is the Hitachi 5K500.B which has a relatively low 2.3W power consumption and performance on a par with 320GB or smaller 7200rpm HDDs. Low power = cooler operation. The Seagate 7200.4 promises better performance but, so far, it is not delivering.

John

 

Thanks. In the Device Properties, I think it's listed as ST96108220AS. Google tells me that this means it probably is a Seagate Sata 2.5"

If I'm shopping around, what other SATA info can you give me that I should be looking for? Because I see things like "SATA ATA 300", "SATAII" along with cache sizes. I'm not clued up on these details

Thanks...

 

Sata II or Sata300 is the sata spec. This is the new revised Sata spec. Pretty much any sata 2.5 inch drive should work. Higher cache+ higher rpm = more performance, but generally less battery life. Hope this helps.

 

Excellent. Thanks alot.

 

Yes, that's a Seagate.

SATA II / SATA 300 is backwards compatible with SATA I / SATA 150.

The only thing you need to watch out for is that the new HDD should be 2.5" size and 9.5mm thick. There are a few 12.5 / 1/2" thick models around.

John

 

Ok, thanks. I'll google up any potential HDDs to find out their dimensions. Seems this information is usually missing from many a product info tab.

[EDIT] I've gone with a 320GB Western Digital Scorpio Black.

Thanks again to all.

 

Got my new Hdd and have removed my old Hdd. However, my old Hdd has a black sheet stuck to the underside which is attached to the ribbon that connect to the board. I'm guessing this is something to do with Shock protection? What are my options at this point, I mean what do I need to do to get my new drive installed?

Thanks

 

The black sheet is probably for electrical insulation but may be to help thermal dissipation.

You should be able to pull it carefully off the old HDD and stick it on the new one.

John