BleepingComputer.com: Need to by a new HDD...

I have a 2.5" SATA-150 HDD [5400 rpm w/a 2MB cache] by Western Digital in my laptop. It is having some mechanical problems, so I need to buy a new one. Are there any compatibility factors that I should know about other than the 2.5" size and SATA interface? I mean, would a SATA-300 work? Or something with a faster transfer rate?

This post has been edited by urbanninja: 11 January 2010 - 03:06 PM

You could possibly install a SATA-II 300 drive in your computer but it is unlikely you will see any performance difference. The rating for SATA-150 and SATA-300 refer to the burst rate at which data can be pushed across the SATA bus.

If your computer is only rated for a SATA-150 drive, your computer can only go that fast.

A SATA drive may physically fit in your laptop and may work, but the SATA bus speed will only be run at the rating of the controller on the motherboard.

The only other thing you can look for is a drive with a lower seek time and possibly a higher spindle speed with a SATA-150 connection. This may allow you to get some more "speed" from your machine.

Hope this helps,

Right now I'm not too worried about getting better performance, I just don't want to buy one and find out that even though it fits, it isn't compatible for some reason. I'm currently using a 4GB flash drive running Puppy Linux, so this'll do for now, but when I want to use Windows 7 again, I will be looking for an inexpensive HDD (minimum 60GB) that is compatible. So, I guess I will just try to find one that has the same exact specs, tho this may be hard because it seems the broken hard disc drive that I own is no longer being produced.

What Model WD hard drive do you have?

Most any 2.5" SATA 150 drive should be just fine no matter what size in GB it is.

This one.
I found this one via google for under $40 so I may just get this one.. Thanks for the help man

This post has been edited by urbanninja: 11 January 2010 - 03:17 PM

This would work just fine in it's place.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16822136071

Hope this helps,