Laptop Hard Drive - Life Expectancy?

[fighterpilot]

I have had a Sony Vaio Laptop (PCG-FXA53: AthlonXP 1500+, ATI Mobility-M 8MB Graphics, 512MB RAM, 30GB 4200RPM HDD) for about five years now. In that time, I had the LCD serviced (under warranty thank goodness) since it failed.

It used to get fairly regular use when my wife was getting her degree, but now she's got a desktop, and we use the laptop on occassion, mainly when travelling for business or pleasure. It is used to get email access, prepare basic documents, and light game playing (amazing that there are many decent older games that work on this sucker with only 8MB video - Starcraft, Civ III, Battlezone, Comanche III, C&C Games, etc)

Anyhow, what is the typical expectancy of a laptop hard drive? I hate to spend the money on something that I use infrequently, but don't want it to die at an inopportune moment. Or should I not worry so much? I know it's only about $50 to update, but it's $50 I'd rather not spend.

 

[SparkyJJO]

They seem to last pretty well in general. I had an old compaq laptop with a crappy fujitsu 4GB drive in it. Sold it a long while ago. Last I knew the thing was still running, and it was over 5 years old. This is after it fell off a chair flat on its lid on the floor. Amazing.

I wouldn't be worried about changing the drive unless it seems to be acting up. Especially if there is no important data on it. If it dies, then OK get a new drive, but until then I don't see a reason to buy another drive.

 

[Paulson]

I just got an IBM 4GB laptop drive that's lord knows how old for free and it runs fine with no bad sectors.

Most hard drives just work as long as you don't bump them too much or allow them to overheat.

 

[HannibalX]

It's hard to tell how long a notebook HD is going to last. I have seen them go five years and I have seen them go only a few months.

The biggest thing that kills notebook hard drives is shock damage from being careless with the notebook.

 

[WackyDan]

Originally posted by: Trinitron
It's hard to tell how long a notebook HD is going to last. I have seen them go five years and I have seen them go only a few months.

The biggest thing that kills notebook hard drives is shock damage from being careless with the notebook.

Bingo.... #1 repair on laptops is broken screens, and a close #2 is hard drives.

Treat it well, and it will last a long time, but you never know, so back it up.