What 200GB 7200rpm HDD is in the current Thinkpads?

Apologise if this has been asked earlier but I did do a search and couldn't find anything conclusive.

I'm a big fan of the 7K200, is that what is in the current gen Thinkpads? Or is it the Seagate? Why does Lenovo advertise it as having encryption exactly? Can't you just use bitlocker along with TPM and be done with it? What is so special about this?

TIA

 

I believe the 7k200 (with 16 mb cache) is what is going into the machines currently. Although The 7K100's might be in some older stock.

 

Thanks! Didn't the 7K100 top out at 100GB? I have one in an external case.

Any owners out there who ordered directly from Lenovo? I'm looking specifically to order the 200GB in a X61t. Must..resist..the..sale

 

Is there any chance that I'm going to get a 7k200? I ordered a T61 last Monday with the "100GB 7200rpm" option.

I guess I'll find out tomorrow. I'll let you know.

 

I guess nobody wants to pay the Lenovo's ripoff price of well over $300 (usually) for this drive. You can get it from (sucky) TigerDirect for under $200. I guess, it's part of the big sale at the moment so I was wondering if I should just skip the hassle of installing it myself and get it straight from Lenovo.

 

It depends on what your warr will be through Lenovo. If you get it through them the HDD takes the warr of the laptop and in case of failure you would get a new drive in 1-2 days with recovery cds. Also, if you get the thinkpad protection the hdd that comes with the laptop would also be covered. if you only get the 1 year base warr than I would go aftermarket.

Also, Lenovo uses Hitachi, Fujitsu, Toshiba, and Seagate drives based on the series and model of the Thinkpad

 

Well, there are currently only two 7200RPM 200GB 2.5" drives that I am aware of: Hitachi Travelstar and the Seagate Momentus. Your point is well-taken about the warranty on the drive. If I get it from newegg, it will be at least three years. Thanks for pointing that out.

What's this bit about 'encryption' though? Why is Lenovo touting that as a feature?

 

I just received my T61p from Lenovo about two weeks ago. It came with a 7k200 100 Gb drive (thankfully).

 

Newegg has it for under $179 right now:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822145160&Tpk=7k200

 

Wow--good find, thanks. I got mine from newegg in August for like $260 before it was stolen in my laptop. Love the price...

 

"I was wondering if I should just skip the hassle of installing it myself and get it straight from Lenovo."

Few things in the world are more hassle free than changing the hard drive. I've never seen anything so easy.

 

Haha, dude you misunderstand me I have no fear of notebook technology, having obtained my very first Thinkpad 700 in the 90s.

Check my sig I was thinking more of a logistical hassle since I travel a lot.

 

I bought my T61 back in October and it came with a 200GB Hitachi 7K200 HDD.

 

Very interesting. I haven't seen 7200 RPM 200GB in Lenovo website but 7200RPM 200GB full Disk Encryption.

I wonder if you got a Disk Encryption version which you should pay more $285.00.

Could you check your "200GB Hitachi 7K200 HDD" parts number in "View parts lookup results for this system" of warranty site

 

Yeah, I don't get this disk encryption bit, really. It would be good to know if there is a difference from the channel version of the 7K200.

 

FYI, I just got my T61 with the "100GB 7200rpm" drive, and it is indeed the super choclatey 100GB Travelstar 7k200 of awesomeness.

Add that to the fact that this notebook is DEAD quiet, that it has a good screen (better than my Compaq 6910p business notebook), and that it has a really, really good feeling keyboard.

This is easily the best laptop purchase I have ever made.

 

You dont need that disk encryption. Just set the password for the HDD in BIOS or even better; set the supervisor password and then the only way to bypass that is replace the planar

 

Maybe you can do a comparison b/t the 6910p and T61? Especially as far as the screen goes. What makes the T61 screen better?

 

"Haha, dude you misunderstand me I have no fear of notebook technology, having obtained my very first Thinkpad 700 in the 90s. "

Erm, I know you misunderstand me. I am a woman.

 

The 6910p has bad dithering problems with light grays. For example, menus in Vista have a kind of "checkerboard" pattern because the display is incapable of displaying that shade of gray and has to fake it with two different shades.

I have verified that this isn't caused by the display driver (32-bit mode, Intel "crappy contrast removing mode" turned off).

There is also quite a bit of graininess on the HP display - the screen has a "texture" that you can see, which the ThinkPad does not.