Replacement Hard Disc Drives: Compatibility

Lazarus

Lazarus

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Although I have previously replaced an HDD in SWMBO's Laptop, I did so on a "Like for like" basis.

ie Old was Western Digital Scorpio Blue 250GB 2.5" SATA; New was Same same.


AS per the "Friendliest Linux Distro" Topic, I am on the verge of being obliged to fit a new Drive to a neighbour's Laptop.

The dying Drive is a Seagate 320GB 2.5" SATA in a flexible caddy (which I can recover).

Looking at sources, replacements are around £40, but some are labelled "Thin" - I suppose that's an obvious characteristic, but I assume those are for devices more compact than Laptops?

Also, he has limited budget and no need at all for anywhere near 320GB capacity.

So, are all 2.5" SATA Drives going to be Plug and Play if I can find something that strikes the right balance between capacity, price etc.? Or are there some differences that aren't immediately obvious?

The Laptop in question is a Hewlett Packard Pavilion G6.
 
Because greater tolerances are maintained on a laptop regarding temperature margins, I would tend to stick with your like for like philosophy where possible
 
Just ignore me, I'm going mad.
 
excollier said:
Just ignore me, I'm going mad.
Click to expand...

I missed what you originally said owing to researching on eBay :-crying

A WD160GB at £30 might do the trick.

Will await more input, first. Got temperature etc. from Topper (Thankyou) and intrigue from your good self, so far!
 
I don't think temperature will be a great factor, otherwise the manufacturers would be putting in Thermostats on the drives, as Apple does within the iMac screens.

Current consumption will have an impact on battery life, and platter speed and retrieval times will affect the operating speed, but if you say the machine isn't going to be used at full capacity by the client, then you might be OK with something almost similar, rather than like for like.
 
Thanks, CH.

Looking around, half the suppliers seem happy to describe replacements as "generic" ie Pick the desired GB and we'll send you whatever we've got (Virtually all are Refurbs.) and the other half seem intent on trying to establish specific compatibility with Host Device Brands!

I think I'll use the same Supplier I got SWMBOs from.
 
I replaced the 80GB HD in my lappie with a WD 320GB one last year. The new one was an "advanced format" type and I had to use WD's aligning software before I could use it with Windows XP.

ISTR that Vista onwards had no issues with advanceed format HDs but it might be worth confirming whether the replacement is AF and whether the Linux distro can cope if it is.
 
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