some help with choosing an HDD needed

Hi,

I'm about to replace the internal HDD in my Lenovo T61 laptop with a larger and faster one. For instance, a 250GB or 320GB 2.5" HDD would be sufficient for my needs.
Now, I'd need your help which brand is best to choose if I want to get a Serial ATA HDD with a speed of 7200 and 16MB of cache. From what I have read, some of the faster hard drives may cause vibrations and could be noisy. I'm also not sure if I need a SATA or SATA II.
Please, help me choose.
I've copied some info about my current factory HDD below:
WDC WD1600BEVS-08RST2
Serial ATA 1.5 Gb/s
8 MB cache buffer size

 

Yes, I realize this but a higher battery consumption and more heat do not matter so much. I'm indecisive about the brand and type, though.

 

Thank you, Steve. I'll do some searching for the models by WD.

 

Hi ralfska,

My 2¢: I'd go with a Maxtor\Seagate drive simply because it has a 5 year warranty. I've been using Maxtor and Seagate since 1996 and I've only had one drive that went bad. It was 3 years old and they replaced it without any brain damage. All they wanted was a copy of my receipt and they did an "advanced return ", too.

Western Digital, however, has either a 1, 2, or 3 year warranty, and it depends on the date of manufacture on the label as to when the warranty starts — not when you purchased it: i.e., if it's been sitting in the warehouse for a year and you don't use it (say, maybe keeping it for a backup) for awhile, your "warranty" is out of date before you even unwrap it. This happened to me; the drive was bad out-of-the-box and they wouldn't cover it because of the date on the label. They couldn't have cared less that I had a dated receipt.

And if you buy the extended warranty, it covers the first year too (even though it's already covered).

 

Hi Arie,

Uh, any reason why you replace so often? I've still got a Maxtor 5GB drive that works perfectly (and it's really old). And, I've still got a Maxtor 10GB drive that's still in use from 2001.

Just curious.

 

with or without G-Force Protection?

I've decided to get an HDD by Seagate.
The exact model name is: Seagate Momentus 7200.4 250 GB (7200, 16MB, Serial ATA/300)
There is also an option to get the same model as above but with additional G-Force Protection, though it's slightly more expensive.

Would you recommend getting that with or without G-Force Protection?

I'd appreciate your comments on this.

 

Yes, I also don't have such an intention , but I wonder if that G-Force Protection only works if the disc is on or maybe it does its job also when you carry it with you.

 

I haven't placed an order for that Seagate HDD yet, because I'm taking a look at the manual of my Lenovo laptop.
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-67883

There is a mention that it supports a couple of capacities, the largest of which is 160GB.
Could this mean that a 250 GB drive wouldn't be supported??

An excerpt from the manual (URL provided above):
Standard 60GB, 80GB, 100GB, 120GB, 160GB hard drive sizes
Supports one additional hard drive which can be used concurrently to offer expanded storage in the Ultrabay Enhanced
5400 rpm or 7200rpm hard drive speeds

 

Also, have you heard of a frequent "clicking" sound that a series of the 2.5" Seagate Momentus's makes? Dell have found a solution to it by issuing some sort of firmware but I haven't been able to find whether other manufacturers managed to resolve that "clicking" noise.

 

Tom's Hardware Review ...
Full article ... Next-Gen 7,200 RPM Notebook Hard Drives

For a quick read .... Conclusion page for above review
I chose the Seagate Momentus 320GB - 7200 with G-Force protection (a $9 price bump). Purchased in February via Dell Business group special for $71.43 plus shipping/tax. Installed in my new Asus 1000HE netbook. Netbook came stock with a Segate Momentus 160GB - 5400. Will notice / detect some faint "clicking" infrequently on both of them, but nothing I'm concerned about. I now use the 160GB as external backup HDD via BlacX interface.
You can currently buy the non G-force OEM version of this drive at Newegg for $69.99 with free shipping. Has good reviews.
The end of June to early July will be taking family to Florida (relatives). I expect my netbook to get hammered about 20 hours a day by family ... do not expect any problems. But will have the original 160GB along for the ride. Ten minutes exchanging HDD around, run image backup onto OS partition and back to the races.

 

Thank you for your input, Dennis.
BTW, how do I get this information about "My System" configuration to display at my user profile?

 

Click on "User CP "
Choose / click on "Edit System Specs "

With luck, the following link may take you directly there ..
http://www.windowsbbs.com/profile.php?do=extra

 

Actually, prior to writing you I did fill out the required spaces with hardware data, but this information isn't showing though.

 

It's working now. I had to turn this on elsewhere.