Dell 700m Hard Drive Swap

[jeffmin]

Hey guys,

I got in on the $750 Dell deal, and am waiting for my 700M (11/10 knock on wood). Thing is, I'm already thinking about upgrading the hard drive. As I understand it, they come with 4200RPM drives, which I can say is DAMN slow, from experience with my 600M.

First off, does anyone know if these laptops use standard 2.5" 9.5mm drives? The laptops are big enough such that I don't think they would need some proprietary sized drive, but with these OEMs you can never tell

Secondly, has anyone actually *seen* a 7200RPM laptop drive in person? I'd imagine they would be rather loud, and that's one thing I don't want my laptop to be. Also, heat buildup a problem?

And finally, is it even worth the buck fifty to upgrade to a 7200 drive? What if I only went up to 5400? Has anyone seen any benchmarks comparisons for laptop drives of varying RPMs?

On another note: anyone want to buy a slightly used 600M?

 

[lupohki]

If you got the 40GB, then it's most likely a 5400rpm 8MB cache Hitachi. There was a deal on the 60GB 7200rpm version and a lot of people got on that for their lappies, but I'm happy with the 5400rpm.

 

[Abhi]

Have a 7200 rpm 60 GB in my IBM t41....

It is not noticably any louder than the 5400 rpm 60 GB i have. I cant feel a difference in heat either.

 

[jamesbond007]

I just purchased a 600m and immediately put in a 60GB 7200RPM 8MB Cache Hitachi drive in there. WOW is all I have to say for performance gains.

The drive isn't any louder than the stock 30GB 4200RPM it came with. I think it is a LITTLE warmer, but nothing that is going to make typing on the keyboard uncomfortable or melt any components.

The laptop is blazing fast now and I'd highly recommend the move from 4200RPM > 7200RPM to anyone.

 

[Smbu]

haha, i did the same thing on the 600m i just got from Dell. Switched out the 30gb 4200rpm drive that came with it and put in the hitachi 60gb 7200rpm drive in. No really noticeable increase in noise/temp and a noticeable difference in performance gains.

 

[AMEXplat]

I think I maybe treadjacking, if so sorry...

Originally posted by: jamesbond007
I just purchased a 600m and immediately put in a 60GB 7200RPM 8MB Cache Hitachi drive in there. WOW is all I have to say for performance gains.

The drive isn't any louder than the stock 30GB 4200RPM it came with. I think it is a LITTLE warmer, but nothing that is going to make typing on the keyboard uncomfortable or melt any components.

The laptop is blazing fast now and I'd highly recommend the move from 4200RPM > 7200RPM to anyone.

I too just purchased the 600M w/ 80GB hd and endup rec'g the:
Model# MHT2080AH

Specifications:
Capacity: 80 GB
Average Seek Time: 12 ms
Buffer: 8MB
Rotational Speed: 5,400 RPM
Interface: ATA-6
Features: Fourth-generation Fluid Dynamic Bearing (FDB) motors dramatically reduce acoustic noise
Manufacturer Warranty: 3 years

My question is if were to jump on 7K60 wagon, is it really worth the bump from 5400 onto 7200rpm ?? TIA and hope this question helps others as well :thumbsup:

 

[jan7da]

I got 700 with 30gb, hoping for to manually upgrade.
the 700m hard drive is Hitachi Travelstar IC25N030ATMR04-0.

I want to know if i can replace it with hitachi 7k60 60gb 7200rpm.

i am not sure of any complications if i buy this 7k60. expecially if its not compatible (interface).
some one pls educate me.

thanks in adavance,
-j

 

[RedBeard]

bump!

Good question! I have my 700m on the way and I want to make sure that series HD will fit.

 

[jan7da]

i think any 9.5mm 2.5" hard drive should be sufficient.
I would like to go for Hitachi 7k60 60gb with 7200rpm.

is there some body who could just tell me its ok to go ahead.

 

[RedBeard]

Yeah, and is there a good cheap place to pick one up online?

 

[AMEXplat]

Originally posted by: jan7da

i think any 9.5mm 2.5" hard drive should be sufficient.
I would like to go for Hitachi 7k60 60gb with 7200rpm.

is there some body who could just tell me its ok to go ahead.

It's a-OK, many (I mean MANY ) peeps have done this upgrade w/ gratified ROI :thumbsup:

OTOH, my above post generated no responses... Wow me surprised; oh well :frown:

 

[RedBeard]

Just got my 700m resetup with the new Hitachi 7200rpm hard drive from zipzoomfly. The drive works great! Doesn't seem to produce any more heat and is quite a bit faster than my old 30 gig 4200 rpm drive.

 

[tyim]

Originally posted by: Habib
Just got my 700m resetup with the new Hitachi 7200rpm hard drive from zipzoomfly. The drive works great! Doesn't seem to produce any more heat and is quite a bit faster than my old 30 gig 4200 rpm drive.

keep us informed and I'm thinking about doing the same thing

 

[seanhsieh]

hey guys,
just bought a 60gb 7200rpm drive from zipzoomfly.com and installed it. used powerquest drive image 7 to copy the hard drive. here's a big tip that screwed me up for a really long time... when you are copying the drive, make sure that you copy the dell utility partition first, then the c: drive. otherwise the mbr won't be pointing at the correct address. cheers.

 

[teiresias]

Is there any real reason to even want to have the Dell partition on a new harddrive? Particularly if you'd prefer a clean install of XP anyway without all of the extra Dell stuff? Or does the Dell partition actually have useful diagnosis tools or something?

 

[kuangs168]

im happy to stick with 40gb 5400rpm on my 700m