Can I replace a 4200-rpm laptop harddrive with a 5400-rpm one?

[Ken90630]

Hi, All,

Have an HP Pavilion ze4900 laptop with a dead HD (OS won't load, BSODs saying "Disk Read Error," CheckDisk fails, BIOS HD diagnostic test fails w/a #1-07 error, Safe Mode won't load, and it makes an odd clicking noise). It came with a 4200-rpm HD, and I'm thinking I'd like to replace it with a 5400-rpm drive. Any reason why I couldn't (or shouldn't) do that?

 

[Muadib]

As long as you use an IDE drive, it will work. As that laptop has an ata-5 controller, 100Mb/s will be as fast as it will go.

 

[Ken90630]

Great. Thanks. :beer:

 

[Muadib]

No problem.

 

[corkyg]

And you can even do a 7200 RPM if you like.

 

[OmnipotentSpleen]

i'm thinking of adding another hdd to my lappy...will a 7200 vs 5400 rpm make much difference in battery life? what sort of impact will another HDD have on the battery as well?

hopefully these questions aren't too off topic.

 

[corkyg]

Good questions. I replaced the 5400 RPM HDD in my Lenovo T60 with a 7200, and I occasionally add another 7200 via the Ultrabay. (Optical out, HDD in.) I can't really address battery life because I rarely use battery power only. I consider that for "Emergency Use Only."

 

[Old Hippie]

You can read the whole thread if ya want but there's only a few minutes runtime difference between 7200 and 5400rpm drives.

 

[RadiclDreamer]

Originally posted by: OmnipotentSpleen
i'm thinking of adding another hdd to my lappy...will a 7200 vs 5400 rpm make much difference in battery life? what sort of impact will another HDD have on the battery as well?

hopefully these questions aren't too off topic.

Minimal impact to battery, the bigger downside is some of the larger 2.5 drives arent available in 7200

 

[corkyg]

In a laptop, I would think that 320GB and 500GB are enough. I could have two 500GBs if necessary - but, my laptop is for travel only, and when I get home, I offload stuff to big externals. Where 7200 shines is in extended data transfer operations such as cloning the drive.

 

[RoConno]

Ken90630, I hope you were able to back-up your data before the HDD crashed. If not, you might be able to install the HDD in an external and still retrieve your data since the drive isn't being required for the OS.

 

[Russwinters]

Hey Ken; let me know if you weren't able to get data off of that drive; I may be able to help. (There will be a price, but I will make sure it is MUCH less then if you went to a big company like Ontrack)