Thinkpads Forum

hello...
I have a TP R40 and I recently decided to upgrade my 40gb 4200rpm hard drive.... because I didn't want any compatibility issues (number of threads on this forum concerning firmware upgrade problems on non-IBM Hitachi drives) I ordered my new 100gb 5400rpm drive straight from Lenovo web site... Lenovo has this drive under ThinkPad 100GB 5400 rpm PATA Hard Drive and a manufacturer part number 40Y8716...

before ordering the drive I obviously did some web search concerning this drive... every web source (doing a google serach on 40Y8716) and most of the threads on this forum indicated that IBM's drives are actually IBM-branded Hitachi drives, and the only difference would be firmware compatibility... also, most of the people on this forum seem to agree that Hitachi are one of the best drives to choose when it comes to upgrading the thinkpad's hard drive....

anyway, before ordering the drive from Lenovo I was perfectly confident that I would be getting an IBM drive (with IBM logo) that would actually be a Hitachi drive... every references to 40Y8716 part number and to official IBM 100GB drives seemed to point in that direction.... even the small picture of the drive on Lenovo's website is a picture of an 'IBM Travelstar' !

well.. you can imagine my surprise when I received the drive yesterday, and after opening the package I found a Fujitsu drive ! the specs were just the same (100gb, 5400rpm, pata) but the drive has a Fujitsu Logo... even more to my surprise the data on this web page:

http://www.thinkwiki.org/index.php?titl ... isk_Drives

clearly states that 100gb 5400rpm drives are either made by Fujitsu or Toshiba and both of them have a 40Y8716 part number.... well... there goes my research done prior to buying the drive.... either I missed this page or these guys are doing an excellent job on keeping it up to date...

here are some questions I have:

a) how can a drive with a part number 40Y8716 be made by a different manufacturers ? (if you do a google image search on 40Y8716 you will end up with IBM/Hitachi drives only... no single Fujitsu will show up)... I thought that part numbers specified individual drives, but it seems that they just specify a general type/specs of a drive (which in turn can be manufactured by Hitachi, Fujitsu or Toshiba)

b) is it possible that Lenovo decided to switch its supply of 100 gb 5400rpm drives from Hitachis to Fujitsus ? if so, then it must've have been done pretty recently...

c) still... if this drive is what Lenovo ships as an official Thinkpad upgrade drive, then there should be no problems when doing firmware updates or when using recovery cds ?

and how good are these drives anyway ?

Hello,

I recently purchased a T41 for my daughter. It came with a Fujitsu drive. The Fujitsus are known to be quite drives and it definitely is! How well they stand up... well, I've used one in my Compact for over 3 years and it's still going... so... I would guess that's pretty good!

I wouldn't worry about it being a Fujitsu, it's a great drive!

Most seem to be hitachi, but some thinkpads do use Fujitsu... they are supported, and their firmware is on the firmware update disks.

skript wrote:and how good are these drives anyway ?

All of our recent T43s have arrived with Fujitsu 80GB drives. Additionally I have been using a couple of identical Fujitsu 80GB (not bought from IBM) in external USB enclosures for over a year.

These Fujitsu 80GB drives have worked faultlessly for use in reasonably tough field conditions. The Fujitsu 80GB drives, from whatever source, are also supported by the IBM hard disk firmware upgrade process.

Cheers,

Bill

great !
thank you VERY much for your support, I really needed someone to calm me down

thanks again...
skript

I just want to add that ALL of the ThinkPads I got recently have Fujitsu drives, and they're the newer Fujitsu drives that have RoHS certification...

FRiC wrote:RoHS certification...

RoHS means "Restriction of Hazardous Substances" to me. Is that what you were referring to, or something else?

Cheers,

Bill