Laptop Hard Drive Recommendations?

fuxorfuxor i live in a giant bucket
edited August 2006 in Hardware
Hey all, got another brain-buster for you :)

I replaced the old 4200rpm 40gb hard drive in my dell x200 with a 7200rpm 80gb (I'm pretty sure it's a Seagate) and after I installed it I noticed that the underside of the laptop was getting really hot. Despite this, the computer worked fine for about a month or so, and yesterday I went to turn it on and it blue-screened every time I tried to boot windows (even in Safe Mode!)

So whether or not it was a hard drive failure, I think I want to replace my 7200rpm drive with something that runs a little cooler. I went to newegg and so now I'm considering either a lower-rpm drive, or perhaps a perpendicular drive. the Seagate Momentus is looking really good, and lower battery consumption and a lower rpm (without sacrificing too much speed) might be the recipe for a cooler-running hard drive.

So my question is, what does everyone think of perpendicular recording technology, and do you think it'll make a difference in the amount of heat my laptop puts out? Are there any other suggestions for a drive that will cut down on the heat, without sacrificing too much performance? This laptop will be my only computer for almost a year, so I'd like it get the best performance from it I can.

Thanks! I hope all is going well for everyone,
-fux

Comments

  • edcentricedcentric near Milwaukee, Wisconsin Icrontian
    edited August 2006
    Try to find reviews that measured power consumption.

    Was your new drive running too much?
    Not going into idle soon enough?
  • fuxorfuxor i live in a giant bucket
    edited August 2006
    I suppose that's a possibility; what settings would you recommend I use?
  • TimTim Southwest PA Icrontian
    edited August 2006
    I think this perpendicular thing is pushing it too far. With the data bits crowded so close together, I think there is more risk of data corruption.:thumbsdow

    I'll be buying a new hard drive for my main computer sometime soon, and it WON'T have any of this perpendicular BS technology.
  • fuxorfuxor i live in a giant bucket
    edited August 2006
    I just tried to reinstall windows and computer seemed to freeze at 69% while formatting the hard drive (full). I took the computer off the dock and the bottom was extremely hot. I'm thinking there might be a fan failure; I'm going to open it up tonight and take a closer look.
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited August 2006
    Tim wrote:
    I think this perpendicular thing is pushing it too far. With the data bits crowded so close together, I think there is more risk of data corruption.:thumbsdow

    I'll be buying a new hard drive for my main computer sometime soon, and it WON'T have any of this perpendicular BS technology.

    There isn't a greater risk of corruption.
  • fuxorfuxor i live in a giant bucket
    edited August 2006
    ok I got the thing open now; there is a small (probably around 20mm) fan under the keyboard on the right side (under where the direction keys are). the hard drive sits under the handrest in the right corner (right in front of that fan). When I turned the system on the fan came on for a few seconds, but then stopped turning. I haven't seen it spin since.

    I'm reinstalling windows now, but this fan is worrying me. Is there a logical reason why it's not spinning up? Is there a temperature sensor that controls it? I didn't see anything in the BIOS like that but I'll take another look.

    edit: Just now the fan came back on, so I guess that's that. Since it's in the dock I can't feel the bottom of the laptop to see if it's heating up though.
  • fuxorfuxor i live in a giant bucket
    edited August 2006
    Just a quick update: the laptop seems to be working fine again, and it gets warm but it's tolerable. Considering the recent failure, and the fact that I only have 80 gigs to work with, I've been thinking of an external drive. Perhaps I'll make another thread for that question, if a search doesn't bring up anything.
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited August 2006
    The problem does sound like an overheating hard drive. My laptop would stall frequently under more than light hard drive usage. I had to open the hard drive compartment to let air circulate around the drive. That solved the problem, but obviously is not a permanent fix. Later I purchased another drive that works well without removing the hard drive door. It's a Samsung 40GB drive. I have no idea if they are or are not consistently good or bad drives. I just know it works well in my laptop.
  • GHoosdumGHoosdum Icrontian
    edited August 2006
    What drive did you buy? The Hitachi Travelstar 7200RPM drive that I upgraded my notebook with runs relatively cool - no hotter than the Travelstar 4200 RPM drive I replaced.
  • fuxorfuxor i live in a giant bucket
    edited August 2006
    I believe it's a Seagate. After the reinstall it seems to be alright, running much cooler than it did before. Perhaps there were some power-saving settings that were fine for my old 4200RPM drive, but were too much for the newer, faster unit.
  • GHoosdumGHoosdum Icrontian
    edited August 2006
    That's something to consider. Another possibility is... how much dust did you clean out of that fan when you found it? ;)
  • fuxorfuxor i live in a giant bucket
    edited August 2006
    none; the innards of the laptop are surprisingly clean.
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