Thinkpads Forum

My T60p originally came with a 5400RPM 160gb hard drive. Right now I am thinking about upgrading the hard drive. SSD's are still too expensive. I am thinking about getting either the 5400RPM 500GB Seagate or the 7200RPM 320GB Seagate. Which one should I go for? Is the 7200RPM really that much faster than the 5400RPM one? I really like the 500GB capacity.

I don't know if you are aware of it, but seagate actually has a 7200 RPM, 500 GB laptop hard drive:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... -_-Product

On the other hand, if you decide to go with a 5400 RPM drive, I would strongly vouch for the Western Digital Scorpio Blue:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... b%20laptop

I have owned one of these for about 6 months now and my experience with it has been very positive.

I really don't know how much real life performance there is between the 5400 RPM and the 7200 RPM. One thing you do want to keep in mind is that, due to higher areal density of the platters, a 500GB drive outperforms a 320GB one with all else being equal.

I been using 7200RPM drives since the 7k40 and wouldn't got back.

Thanks guys for the replies.

There seems to be a flurry of bad reviews for the 7200RPM 500GB Seagate drive. That's why I am scared of getting that drive. While the Seagate 5400RPM 500GB drive seems to get a lot more positive reviews.

There really doesn't seem to be that much price difference between the higher capapcity/lower RPM drive and the lower capacity/higher RPM drive.

Decisions, decisions, decisions...

I would also consider the heat from those HDs, a 7200rpm runs hotter than a 5400rpm.
And georgelam's last remark should make it easy to decide for the 5400rpm (at least I would).

I've swapped back and forth between 5400 and 7200 rpm drives numerous times. Despite the greater arial density of the larger 5400 rpm drives, this has never translated into better performance on daily activities. I currently have 320gb Hitachi 7200rpm drives in my T61p computers and they perform very well.

For my T60, I replaced the original 80gb 5400 hdd with a Western Digital Scorpio Black 320gb 7200 hdd. Not only is it faster, but also, it's not any warmer and it's just as quiet.

I spoke too soon. My T60 is faster, but it is warmer (noticeably) and it a bit louder. Still, it's a good hdd.

I'd recommend waiting for the 7K500 of Hitachi, it would be more reliable than the Seagate, I've seen negative comments regarding their 500GB 7200rpm model is not worth risking your data.