Thinkpads Forum

Hey folks,

Been a couple years since I got my T60, and since it's summer and I'm home from college, it's about time I reinstalled windows and got everything cleaned up and up to date.

This thing has been an awesome computer, I have the 2007-C5U config, so it has the 2.0 ghz. processor, 128MB graphics card, and 5400 RPM (80GB) drive. Still a decent configuration by today's standards... I love this computer! No intention of replacing it in the next two years.

I upgraded the RAM to two gigs, and that sped things up a bit, but the next thing I was thinking of doing was getting a new hard drive, not only for the space, but for the speed. I got the 5400 RPM at the time because 7200 RPM technology was shaky at the time in laptops, but now they've ramped things up and quieted things down and I could use the speed.

Recommendations for a good hard drive would be welcome! Here's an example I found, let me know if this would be a good choice:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6822148249

Specifically, I'm curious about 8MB versus 16MB cache, and 1.5 Gb/s versus 3.0 Gb/s as it applies to my T60.

Thanks!

That's the drive I have in my R60. I haven't had any issues with it and mine has been whisper quiet though I may have just gotten lucky. As the owner of a Seagate drive you're entitled to a free download of DiscWizard from Seagate's website. It's basically Acronis True Image. I use it instead of Rescue and Recovery. I do a clean install then make an image. If you're drives gets messed up, you can put the image back in like five minutes. Works real slick.

I just got this drive. I haven't installed it but I don't foresee any problems. I have the first drive you mentioned (the Seagate) in my X61 and it's fast and quiet. The Hitachi is at a pretty good price though.

Higher capacity and < $100 makes it a no brainer. The Hitachi is a much better buy right now then the Seagate imo. From a quality and performance viewpoint both drives are excellent performers.
Newegg and Zipzoomfly are both excellent vendors.

Cool, thanks for the suggestion. Looks like that is indeed a much better buy. Let me know how it runs when you get it.

When you say both drives require BIOS hacking...what is the nature of the hacking? Does that mean manual changes to the BIOS or tricking-out the BIOS in some way. And, where does the "hacking" info come from in order to get these drives to work?

hkelley wrote:When you say both drives require BIOS hacking...what is the nature of the hacking? Does that mean manual changes to the BIOS or tricking-out the BIOS in some way. And, where does the "hacking" info come from in order to get these drives to work?

Nobody mentioned bios hacking in this thread. Did you post here in error?

No bios mods are required to use the above drives in a T6x. They go directly from the box to the laptop. No mess, no fuss.

I apologize. It was in fact another thread where BIOS hacking was mentioned. I had an earlier experience with a T43 that required BIOS adjustments which were not documented. Thanks for confirmation that the HD work directly from the box.

Ah yes, The infamous 2010 error. No such problem with the T6x series.

Just figured I'd bump this and let everyone know that I got that hard drive and installed it today. I'm running on a fresh installation right now, and let me tell you, it feels great! This hard drive is just absolutely insane. Barely makes any detectable noise at all (actually quieter than the one it replaces), and best of all, it is just rippin fast. Literally, it feels like I just got a brand new, up-to-date computer. I was just laughing as I loaded some of the stuff onto the computer and the loading bars just kept zipping by. Loading anything takes literally half the time now, and the computer boots up in less than half the time it took before... yes, partially because it's a new installation, but I've already loaded most of everything back so far so I know the rest of the difference is definitely the hard drive.

Really can't recommend this upgrade enough. The drive looks exactly like the OEM one (my OEM is also a Hitachi of the same kind), even has the same label, and was a breeze to install. Best $100 ever spent, easily.

I concur. I did the upgrade to the HITACHI Travelstar 7K200 0A50940 200GB. It was strictly plugin and install. Not a hitch. Did a fresh install and could not be happier with the speed and the quietness of the drive. There is a noticeable improvement in both categories with this new drive.

MD1032 wrote:Just figured I'd bump this and let everyone know that I got that hard drive and installed it today. I'm running on a fresh installation right now, and let me tell you, it feels great! This hard drive is just absolutely insane. Barely makes any detectable noise at all (actually quieter than the one it replaces), and best of all, it is just rippin fast. Literally, it feels like I just got a brand new, up-to-date computer. I was just laughing as I loaded some of the stuff onto the computer and the loading bars just kept zipping by. Loading anything takes literally half the time now, and the computer boots up in less than half the time it took before... yes, partially because it's a new installation, but I've already loaded most of everything back so far so I know the rest of the difference is definitely the hard drive.

Really can't recommend this upgrade enough. The drive looks exactly like the OEM one (my OEM is also a Hitachi of the same kind), even has the same label, and was a breeze to install. Best $100 ever spent, easily.

Regarding the speed; is this because of a new clean registry or is it the actual read/write speed increase of the hard disk?

Do you experience any extra heat from the additional rpms?

In my case it was the actual HD speed. I benchmarked the old 100 mb drive using pcpitstop.com and then benched marked the new Hatachi drive...there was no question about the effects of speed and transfer. There is no detectable heat increase that I can determine. And, it is extremely quiet.

But, you are correct...a fresh install and clean registry also makes a great difference (for a while).