Upgrade internal hard drive or purchase external HD?

I noticed that I need an increasing amount of HD space to save various files/programs etc.

Currently my Thinkpad (R52) has 40GB and I would like to at least double that to 80GB. Would I be better off purchasing an internal HD and upgrading it on the machine or just purchase an external HD? I'm looking at it both from a cost perspective and effort wise as well.

My main concern is whether or not it would be (realtively) easy to upgrade the HD myself, or would it just be too difficult to do?

Any tips/advice would be appreciated.

 

You see I have a 100gb hard drive right now. And since its big already, there is no point of me upgrading the internal so I've decided to get an external.

Also with an external, just in case you want to share some information with a friend or somebody it will be like carrying a big floppy, which is very useful.

 

Do both.

Buy a new internal HDD that is larger, swap it with your current HDD, then stick that old HDD in a 2.5 inch enclosure and use it as an external!

I did it, and it works great. For external HDDs, the spindle speed doesn't really matter as it's meant to store data, and not really constantly access it anyway.

 

If cost is your main concern, an external 3.5" is the best price to GB ratio. You get 300GB for the price of 80GB laptop drive. But 3.5" are not as portable and need to be powered independently (2.5" are USB powered)

As for the upgrade, the R52 is not that hard to upgrade, one screw and you pull the HDD out. You don't need to take anything apart.

 

I found the following article most helpful on how to upgrade a laptop hard drive. I'll be doing exactly what he did, except with my V2000Z, not a Thinkpad. My notebook's hard drive usage is increasing everyday, like you. After mirroring the drive, I'll delete all non-essential files off the new hard drive to increase its free space, you might want to do the same. These files could be program setups, documents, pictures, music, videos, and other files that you might not access regularly. I good factor in deciding which files are not used often is when the file name appears blue after running disk cleanup with the "compress old files" option checked. When you do need these files, just run them off your new external drive. IMO, a 2.5" external HD makes more sense with a laptop, as you don't want to be plugged in if you don't have to be. Hope this helps!

http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-11379-6445033.html?tag=viddet

 

Thanks...very helpful link!

 

Yeah that's the only thing holding me back from getting a new 2.5" HD to reaplace my current harddrive and stick it in an enclosure.

PRICE. Holy dang, but getting a 3.5" harddrive and sticking that in an enclosure is just too bulky and it has its own power brick. Grrrrrrrrr.

Hope prices come down soon. Probably won't, but I can hope right guys?