Upgrading hard drive - 7200 or 5400rpm?

[serpico]

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.

[ZaZ]

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.

[sir_synthsalot]

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.

[comps]

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.

[loyukfai]

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.

[serpico]

Thanks for the info.