7200rpm laptop HDDs

[TheOverlord]

I have a Dell 600m right now with a 5.4k hdd in it. The HDD runs about 113F on average which is kinda warm considering my left wrist sits right on top of it.

I'm wondering how much warmer the 7.2k drives would be on average. 5F or so wouldn't be bad but 15F would be a bit much.

Also, how much more battery drain is there from the faster drives? I've read a few of the old discussions on here and there seems to be conflisting reports. Any reviews/roundups on laptop hdds to compare heat, battery drain etc?

 

[Droosh]

I own an IBM T42 with a 7200 RPM drive. I find no issues with noise, heat or battery drain. I've actually been very surprised, though it is noticibly slower than my RAID 0 arrayed Raptors in my desktop
Some of this may be attributable to IBM's superior, IMO, design and materials.

I've read conflicting posts on battery life as well. Many seem to suggest that because of newer design, firmware, and bareings that the 7200RPM drive use equal or even less power. Definitely less power than the 4500RPM drives which are all of older design. Avoid the 4500RPM drives which dell sometimes bundles.

Storeagereview.com has good drive comparisons, BTW.