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JohnBu
16th June 2011, 10:31 AM
My 160gig notebook hard drive is filling up, actually filled up to the point I have to delete movies once in a while..

So looking to get a larger drive, most likely a 640gb drive as it seems good value for money.

My question is, should I go for the 5400 or 7200rpm drive?

Price isn't a concern, however power consumption is.

Does the 7200 use much more power? Is it much faster?

FYI- it seems it's cheaper to buy a 2.5" 1TB USB Drive, compared to just the drive itself???

HoldenAstra
16th June 2011, 11:06 AM
haha, my order form IJK has just been confirmed.

I was in the same place as you. I wanted to upgrade the 160G hard drive in my MacBook. I was not sure which to go, 5400 or 7200 and power consumption was my concern. Finally after reading reviews and datasheet of some drives, I decided to go Hitachi 500G 2.5" 5400rpm Travelstar 5K500.B SATA II 3.0Gbs, 8MB Cache. It's $66 from IJK.

Any 7200 RPM drive has more power consumption, and also has more vibration.

I also ordered Astone ISO-SL230 Silver 2.5"" SATA to USB2.0 Compact Enclosure Silver from IJK for $25.

HoldenAstra
16th June 2011, 11:12 AM
7200 HD is faster than 5400 HD, and also 7200 HD has 16MB Cache.

I'd rather to put a bigger HD in the laptop and put the original HD in the enclosure.

JohnBu
16th June 2011, 11:14 AM
I may just for the Samsung 640g 5400, $65 from MSY, so I can pick it up on the way home.

the 7200 version is $13 more, but interestingly enough, there is no 7200 version on the Samsung.com.au website.

You going to use the Astone to use with your old drive?

Hmm, maybe I'll buy a $99 1TB 2.5 USB Drive, pull out the drive to use in the notebook, and then use the old drive in the case..

HoldenAstra
16th June 2011, 11:28 AM
Hmm, maybe I'll buy a $99 1TB 2.5 USB Drive, pull out the drive to use in the notebook, and then use the old drive in the case..

I was also thinking the same thing but I am not sure what kind of drive in the USB Drive.I was looking for certain type of drive like Travelstar 5K500.B. So I decided to buy an enclosure.

Nowadays, HDs are cheap, very cheap.

JohnBu
16th June 2011, 01:24 PM
What does the Travelstar have over the normal 2.5" Sata Drives?

HoldenAstra
16th June 2011, 01:33 PM
I'd say there is not much difference, just personal preference. I use Hitachi all the way, and it's not bad, so I stick to it.

HoldenAstra
16th June 2011, 01:38 PM
and some say WestDigital Black Series is the fastest HD out there, for laptop.

poita
16th June 2011, 01:43 PM
Or the new Seagate Hybrid drive

500gb 5400rpm drive with a 4gb SSD NAND, about the $120 mark

HoldenAstra
16th June 2011, 02:07 PM
Or the new Seagate Hybrid drive

500gb 5400rpm drive with a 4gb SSD NAND, about the $120 mark

is it quite new? I want that!!!

JohnBu
16th June 2011, 02:22 PM
I too was interested in the Hybrid, unfortunately, my research indicated it uses more power than a conventional HDD :(

HoldenAstra
16th June 2011, 02:35 PM
Or the new Seagate Hybrid drive

500gb 5400rpm drive with a 4gb SSD NAND, about the $120 mark

it's 7200rpm HD, and I am in the battle again...thanks

poita
16th June 2011, 04:56 PM
Power use is a non issue for me

And yes your right it's a 7200rpm drive, my bad

HoldenAstra
16th June 2011, 07:27 PM
anyway, I will still stick to Travelstar 5K500.B which I 've ordered. Cheers.

HoldenAstra
17th June 2011, 01:07 PM
ordered 5K500.B 500G and picked up 5K750 500G this morning, free upgrade???

Bloodnok
17th June 2011, 01:53 PM
ordered 5K500.B 500G and picked up 5K750 500G this morning, free upgrade???

Yup - platter density is higher, which means at the same capacity it should have less platters in it. If so, it could well run cooler and have lower power usage, due to less rotating mass...