Thinkpads Forum

Hi,

Now that my dads thinkpad's harddrive is broken I need a new one. I would like to know which harddrives would work, I really don't need a large amount probably 10-15 GB. . I heard that I would need some sort of caddy? Where would I possibly get that? Is it pretty easy to install the new software on the thinkpad. It's a 600X, Do I have to install new drivers for it, where would I get those. Could I do all this for a budget under 40.00? (Excluding Software, ALREADY HAVE)

Should I go for Windows 2000 OR Windows XP ? I think 2000 might run faster, but I don't know.

thanks

crazyforsax

2000 might run a little faster on your mahine though XP should work just fine as well. XP also might have some more up to date features.

My ThinkPad 600E has Windows 2000 on it and it runs pretty nice. Takes a few seconds to boot but once I'm in Windows everything runs like a dream.

As for caddys, you should be able to simply recycle the one that's already on the current hard drive.

well what harddrives will work? will I be able to do it under 35.00?

Search around eBay. I don't think $35 will get you anything larger than a 12gb drive though. Still, worth a look. It might also help to post in the "For Sale" forum asking for a hard drive.

I'm not sure what the size limit on the 440BX chipset is (which is what the 600 laptops have) but I'm sure it can support most modern drives under 100gb.

do i have to have a special harddrive for the ibm, or is there like a universal one that would work in it. Is it possible that I could go and but like a a non ibm one then, put it in the closure the old one's in now?

thanks

$35 seems to be at a wierd breaking point. I generally will onyl pay about $1/GB for a used HD. However, as strange as it sounds, this "rule" only applies at about 40GB and up, because the lower drives seem to start at about $20 for a 10gb, $30 for a 20gb, $35 for a 30gb.

Just remember though, it takes patience. Don't expect to find the perfect drive at the perfect price right off the bat.

It also helps to look around every place you can. I have a 20gb Fujitsu in my 600E that runs great and I managed to get it for free from a computer store employeee who didn't have the time to test it.

crazyforsax wrote:do i have to have a special harddrive for the ibm, or is there like a universal one that would work in it. Is it possible that I could go and but like a a non ibm one then, put it in the closure the old one's in now?

thanks

Laptop drives are pretty standard, especially now that every seems to have settled on 9.5mm thickness. Any 2.5" IDE drive should work fine. If you do find some off-beat drive, the max thickness is 17mm iirc.

Any 2.5" IDE drive should work fine. If you do find some off-beat drive, the max thickness is 17mm iirc.

The maximum drive thickness for a drive in a 600X is 12mm (sometimes listed as 12.5mm). You can also use a 9mm (sometimes listed as 9.5mm) drive.

Phil.

xp runs nice but its a slug os(period)
run me or 2k and youll wonder how the hell microsoft f''d up with this
assumed yeah much faster (yea like hell it iz)
myth exposed yet again

Hard drives die all the time and so it's best to buy a new one with warranty. The cheapest notebook hard drive on newegg.com is currently a 20GB drive for $60. The next cheapest drive costs only $7 more and you get twice the capacity. Most of them come with 3-year warranty. I just replaced my Hitachi drive last week, just 4 months before its warranty expires.

for the measly few bucks xtra id go with the 40gb and format it to 20 gb to destroke it and get faster seek times ,where 32gb jumper prevails i always use it because i don't need more than 20gb,but rather utilise better responsiveness and fat 32 which is faster and fragments alot less than nfts anyway.