Laptop HD question

[Fiveohhh]

I was just wondering how universal laptop HD's are.. I have a dell latitude cp and want a bigger HD, but not sure which ones fit. Any input would be great.
THanks

 

[Lord Evermore]

They're pretty much totally universal. Any 2.5 inch IDE drive should work.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Note though that an older laptop might not support drives larger than 30 GB, or it might need a BIOS update before large drives will work.

 

[LittleReeferBoy]

Also, a newer, higher-capacity HD may run hotter than your laptop was originally designed to handle. That may or may not cause problems. I swapped in a 30gig IBM last year into my HP, in place of the original 10gig IBM and it definitely runs warmer. I've yet to conclusively attribute it to the larger HD, but my battery drains faster now.

 

[dkozloski]

Physiacal thicknes can be a problem. The replacement drive may be too thick to fit in place of the old drive. Check the specs. You may also have to update the BIOS or use a disc overlay program like OnTrack.

 

[corkyg]

The pacing item is the max size recognized by the BIOS - then all you need is a 2.5-in drive that is between 9 and 12mm thick.

 

[ai42]

Umm... make sure you know what you have and are getting.

2.5" drives come in the 9.5mm and 12.5mm type. A 9.5mm will work in a 12.5mm slot, but rarely the other way around. Also standard notebook drives are 4200rpm, and if your looking at 5400rpm drives there is signifigantly more heat. Most notebooks can take it as there are usually no vital (or compoents that would have temperature issues) components near the hard drive. However, on superslim and smaller notebooks heat is a huge issue and upgrading to a 5400rpm drive would not be a good idea.

 

[Fiveohhh]

Thanks for the info

 

[Eug]

If you want a 60 GB, ones that are cheap and that are guaranteed to fit physically include the 60 GB 4200 rpm ones from Fujitsu and Toshiba. $200 for the Toshiba, which I use in an external Firewire case, and my laptop came with the Fujitsu.