Laptop Hard Drive

[BoredBloke]

I've just checked the specs of my laptop online and found that the hard disk is a 100 GB - Serial ATA-150 - 5400 rpm

I want to buy a new hard drive due to a project which I'm going to use it for at work (good on the old IR35 front). As it currently only has a 5400 rpm drive in it, does that mean that I can't put a faster 7200 one in?

Apologies for the noddy question!

[KevinS]

No, a 7200RPM drive will work just fine.. You could probably fit a SATA II drive in, and it should be backwards compatible (as your current drive is SATA I, I am assuming the controller in the laptop is SATA I too)..

I use DriveMyLaptop for hard drives - good service and good prices..

[BoredBloke]

Cheers for that - I have to get one tonight so that I can install it and setup the software. Then start using it tomorrow but the prices on that site are very good.

[NickFitz]

I've just checked the specs of my laptop online and found that the hard disk is a 100 GB - Serial ATA-150 - 5400 rpm

I want to buy a new hard drive due to a project which I'm going to use it for at work (good on the old IR35 front). As it currently only has a 5400 rpm drive in it, does that mean that I can't put a faster 7200 one in?

Apologies for the noddy question!

You need to consider the tradeoff that a higher-speed drive will draw more power, thereby shortening your battery life between charges.

If you'll mainly be working plugged in, this shouldn't be a problem, though.

http://www.tomshardware.com/ is a good place to find objective reviews covering such matters - I was made aware of the above fact when reading a comparative review of laptop drives on there yesterday. FWIW I decided to go with 5400, as it seemed to me that the speed gain wouldn't provide me with enough of a benefit to offset the shorter battery life. YMMV, of course.

[KevinS]

Of course, being a contractor, you should really be getting a Solid State disk - 32GB drives are now down to about £400..