So I believe my hard drive is crapping out on my in my laptop... does any hard drive work for laptops? So do I need to get one specifically for a laptop?

I forgot to mention, which is the best replacement?

 

Eric is right. Laptop drives are typically 2.5". Go to the manufacturer's website and dig up the specs for your make and model. For example, EIDE, SATA, 80GB, 160GB, how big a cache it has... From that you can do some searching to see what other drives you can replace it with...

 

Unless you have some sort of ultra slim laptop, yup, 2.5" is the form factor it will be.

Except for whether its SATA or PATA (EIDE), it doesn't matter what size you had, what cache it had, or what RPM it was.

Are you looking for a cheap fix, or a performance fix? Seagate is what I'd recommend. I've had nothing but trouble with Western Digital, except for their 10,000 RPM VelociRaptor HDDs. They have been great.

For performance, I'd suggest looking at 7200 RPM drives. They cost a little more, but are far better performing than the 5400 RPM or 4200 RPM drives (what laptops usually use). The 7200 RPM drives will usually also have more cache, usually 16 MB or so, instead of the normal 8 MB that a lot of 5400 RPM drives have. This contributes even more to their speed.

A good example, if you have a SATA interface.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Seagate+...&skuId=9093063

Have you ever pulled a laptop HDD before?

 

i pretty much agree with what jasonw is saying, except i have never had an issue w/ wd (western digital) drives, i put a wd blue 320gb hd in my laptop back in august and i got it for 70.00 shipped(from newegg of course), of course as jason said i didnt go for the 7200 rpm drive, i really dont need it and was trying to keep costs down

 

Well my laptop is a Inspiron E1705 that has the guts of a loaded 9400...It has 2 hdd's. The primary one is 80gb and the secondary is 20. Intel (R) Core (TM) 2 CPU T5600 @ 1.83 GHz 988MHz, 1.00 GB Ram.

I just pulled it up and typed what I saw. Oh and the Lappy is about 4 years old.

 

There is one example of the differences. Pretty sure you have a SATA after researching your model, but you'd better check to make sure. Be careful, sometimes manufacturers will put a proprietary adapter piece on the SATA/PATA pins to allow them to plug into the laptop a certain way. Sometimes the adapter makes a SATA drive look like a PATA (IDE) drive, or vice versa.

Best Buy actually has a Western Digital 250 GB SATA, 5400 RPM, 8 MB cache drive for the same price NewEgg.com has them, about $50. The Seagate, which has a longer warranty, is $5 more. If you're looking for the cheapest fix, thats about it. NewEgg does have smaller drives, but you're talking $5-$10 savings for less than half the capacity of that 250.

I'd also suggest looking into upgrading your total RAM to 2 GB, give your PC a nice boost.

 

Nice, Thanks Jason.. By the way, I found the specs on the puter when I bought it... I pasted the pic below..

So how do I find out which HDD I got for the SATA or IDE?

Oh and yet again.. Will I have to reload anything on to the new HDD? Like Op System or anything to make my computer actually work? Im in the middle of backin up my lappy right now while I can.


Inspiron E1705, Intel Core 2 Duo processor T5600 (2MB/1.83GHz/667MHz)Qty: 1Unit Price:
E1705,CORE 2 DUO T5600(1.83GHZ [17UXGAE] -
LCD,17-INCH,TLIFE ENH,WUXGA ,I [1G2D] -
1GB,DDR2,533MHZ,2 DIMM,I9400/E [256ATI] - [256MB ATI MBLTY RADEON X1400,I [120GB] -
[120GB] - [420-5449]
120GB HARD DRIVE,I9400/E1705PC BACKUP,90DAY,V10,ENG,INSP [WMCEM] - [412-0689]

IMAGE RESTORE, INSPDELL SUPPORT 3.2,DIM/INSPWINDOWS MEDIA PLAYER 10,INSPCOMPLIMENTARY COURSES: LOOK FODELL DIRECT DOWNLOAD,DHS,DIM/IWINXP MCE 2005,ENG,INSP,NM,U,NISP SEARCH ASST PORTAL,DIM/INSICON CONSOLIDATION APPLICATIONTHANKS FOR PURCHASING YOUR DELBACKUP MEDIA FOR XP MCE,05U,IN [INTNIC] - [430-0493]
INTEGRATED NIC AND MODEM [ADOBER] - [412-0917]
ADOBE ACROBAT READER V7.0,INSP [8XDVDRW] - [313-3866]
[8XDVDRW] - [420-5775]
8X DVD+/-RW DRIVE,I9400/E1705DECODING SW,CYBRLNK PDVD,V5.7, [IS] - [313-4217]
INTEGRATED HD AUDIO,INSPIRON [DW1500] - [
DELL WRLS 1500,DC,MCRD,US,INSP [NOSEC] -
NO STAND ALONE SEC SOFTWARE RE [6BAT] -
53 WHR,6-CELL,LION,PRIM BATT,I [AOLEPP] - [

BROADBAND ICON FOR CONSUMERAOL FOR BROADBANDNETZERO ISP,DIM/INSP [IWRK] - [412-0915]
MS WORKS 8.5 PLUS OFFICE,TRIAL [ATG4GLS] -

SOFT CONTRACTS - QUALXSERVEWARRANTY SPRT,INSP,3YR EXT4YR LIMITED WARRANTYDES-WBT QUICKHELP:EXPERT+PLAY/SOFT CONTRACTS - CONSUMER COMPCC ACC DAM SVC,INSP,4YR,DHS$150 MAIL-IN REBATE 72205DES PROD PC QUICK GUIDE ATG PODOC,30 DAY,GETTING STARTED,UNLWARRANTY SPRT,INSP,INIT YRNBD NW,INSP,E1705,QLX,3YR EXT,HW WRTY + SVC,INSP,E1705,QLX,ENBD NW,INSP,E1705,QLX,INIT YR,HW WRTY + SVC,INSP,E1705,QLX,ITRENDMICRO 12.5,PC-CILLIN,ENG, [IC2DNB] - [310-8319]
INTEL DUAL CORE 2,MEROM,NBK

 

You'll have to pull the HDD out of the laptop to check, but I'm pretty sure you're SATA.

Wish you were closer. I'd do all the labor for you.

I'd also recommend ordering two of these. That'll double your memory, increase your speed.

Yes, new HDDs come completely blank. You will have to reload everything, starting with the OS.

 

Yet again, Awesome Jason.

Those memory sticks fit on my motherboard? Cuz I dont want to buy something and not be able to use it cuz my MB is lame and wont support it. I was going to take it apart this weekend and see whats what inside this beast.


On a side note.. Would a bad battery affect any of this?