Thinkpads Forum

I'm considering upgrading the hard drive on my T60 (100gb, 7200rpm Hitachi Travelstar), both because I could use the extra capacity and because after 5 years, I don't want to push my luck on drive life.

Looking at 500gb drives, it seems that the price difference between 5400 and 7200 rpm drives is pretty small (~$10, sometimes less). Does that make opting for the 7200 a no-brainer for someone who keeps his laptop plugged in most of the time?

And all external drive enclosures can handle a 7200 rpm drive, correct? That's where my existing drive is headed after the upgrade.

serpico wrote:Does that make opting for the 7200 a no-brainer for someone who keeps his laptop plugged in most of the time?

I guess that would depend on your goal. 5400RPM drives tend to run cooler and produce less noise. If that's what you want, then a 5400RPM drive is a better fit. If it were my T60 I'd pick up a small SSD for the boot drive, then the ultrabay and a larger 5400RPM drive for storage.

Some external cases will have PATA connectors for older drives and won't be compatible with your Hitachi drive.

It's less noise/power consumption/heat vs. speed.

I personally dislike hard drive noise, and I find 5400 rpm drives plenty fast for what I use my PC for.

Whatever choice you make, make sure to get a 1-platter drive if you prefer less vibration/noise over bigger capacity. I've recently swapped a 500GB 2-platter seagate for 320GB samsung and the difference is _real_, not just theoretical. I was able to feel a slight vibration with my right hand on the palm rest using the seagate, now there's none.

Both are 5400RPM drives.

Good 5400 can be as fast as bad 7200, depending on the scenarios.

Here are a few relatively fresh reviews of 2.5" (mixed with 3.5" and SSD) drives:

http://techreport.com/articles.x/20255
http://techreport.com/articles.x/20037
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/storag ... undup.html

Cheers.

Thanks for the info.