Windows 7: Suggestion for a new 2.5" SATA laptop HD or SSD...

Barkermush · 15 Feb 2012

Hi, my hard drive has recently died on my 8 month old Laptop, which is a:

Quote:

Pavilion dv6, dv6-3122sa
* AMD Turion II Dual-core Processor P540 (2.4 GHz, 2MB L2 Cache)
* 39.52 cm (15"6) Diagonal High Definition HP Brightview
*500GB (7200RPM) Hard Drive
*4096MB DDR3 SDRAM (2 Dimm)
*802. 11 b/g/n WLAN & Bluetooth
*Lightscribe Super Multi 8x DVD+'RW with double layer support
*6-cell 55WHr Lithium-Ion battery
*ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5470 Switchable Graphics
with 512MB DD3 dedicated graphics memory
*5-in-1 Digital Media Reader
*Genuine Windows 7 home premium (64 bit)
*HP truevision wbecam
*HP Mediasmart

The laptop will not even bootup, it says "Can not find Bootmgr, press ctl+alt+del to restart."
I've tried the diagnostic tools, but they all say there is a problem with my HD, please contact my manufacturer.

I've also tried to do a fresh Windows 7 install, but it pops up with an error saying there is a problem with the partition. And I tried the repair option, and it pops up saying my boot up menu is corrupted, and that it will repair it and restart.
But it just restarts, and does not do anything.

The HD was:

Quote:

Model ID - Toshiba MK5061GSYN

I'm not the most intune when it comes to Hard Disk's etc, and this is the first time I have had one break on me.

Anyway, I was advised to ask in here for advice.
I'm looking for a similar hard drive (or better) to replace the one that is broken. I'm looking to spend between £40-£80.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

bassfisher6522 · 15 Feb 2012

If you can afford it, go with the SSD. Does your laptop have the option for dual drives...some do these days?

fseal · 15 Feb 2012

I recently replaced my laptop HD with an SSD (160 gig). It screams! Normal laptop HDs are like 2-4x slower than those found on desktops so the difference is even more profound. It's the way all laptops should be run

That said, your laptop is < 12 months old, it should be covered under warranty and you should be able to get a new HD for free or postage I would imagine...

essenbe · 15 Feb 2012

My Daughter had a 6 or 7 year old laptop with a T2390 1.8GHz CPU. It was so slow, I refused to even use it. I just put an SSD in it and now it is very quick. It will completely reboot in 27 seconds. And that is from a very slow laptop.

Barkermush · 15 Feb 2012

Thanks for the replys.

It sounds like SSD is the way to go, is there any certain size/make I would need to get for my Laptop.. or will any fit?

Also would I be able to get an SSD for around £80 or are they more expensive?

Quote: Originally Posted by bassfisher6522

Does your laptop have the option for dual drives...some do these days?

I'm not sure, how could I find this out?

Quote:

That said, your laptop is < 12 months old, it should be covered under warranty and you should be able to get a new HD for free or postage I would imagine...

I never thought of that, although I did buy the Laptop from a seller on Ebay. This seller: eBay My World - tiffanys300

It was brand new, and sealed in the HP box. I'm not sure how long the seller had it for, but should it still be covered under 12 months warranty?

whs · 15 Feb 2012

On my Toshiba laptop I use a 90GB OCZ Vertex2 and reboot is 28sec. I replaced it the day I got it, so I have no idea how slow it could be. I use the 750GB HDD with which it came in a Sata3 enclosure for imaging. But I left the original Win7 installation and the recovery partition on it - just in case.

On an older HP 1.8GHz Duo Core laptop I had a different problem. Although the wife did not cpmplain about the speed (she is a patient person), it ran so hot that you could fry eggs on it. Since I replaced the HDD with a 80GB Intel SSD, it runs at normal temps.

I prefer to use smaller SSDs and offload some data on 32GB sticks. That works well and is cheaper ($25.99 per stick).

Barkermush · 16 Feb 2012

Quote: Originally Posted by fseal

That said, your laptop is < 12 months old, it should be covered under warranty and you should be able to get a new HD for free or postage I would imagine...

Hi, on my system information, it said warranty start date: 06/06/2011.

Which I is when I first booted the Laptop up, I just went to the HP Warranty site and enter the Product Serial Number from the system information, and it came up with this:

Quote:

Active HP Care Packs can be linked to your profile for easy future reference. Copy the serial number of any active HP Care Pack shown below and visit My Contracts and Warranties.

You may have purchased an HP Care Pack that is not reflected below. If you have an HP Care Pack ID you can view the details at HP Care Pack Services.

Warranty type: HP Care Pack
HW Support, 2 year
Service type: HWM Offsite
Pick Up & Return,
Status: Active
Start date: 31-Jan-2011
End date: 30-Apr-2013
Service level: Standard Turn-Around-Time
Pickup by HP
Delivery by HP
No Special Coverage
Standard Material Handling
Country Coverage
Standard HW
Std Office Hrs Std Office Days
Deliverables: Offsite Support & Materials
Hardware Problem Diagnosis

Quote:

Base warranties with active components can be linked to your profile for easy future reference at My Contracts and Warranties. If your warranty has expired you can purchase a post-warranty HP Care Pack at HP Care Pack Services.
Warranty type: Base Warranty
Service type: Wty: HP HW Maintenance Offsite Support
Status: Active
Start date: 06-Jun-2011
End date: 05-Jun-2012
Service level: Std Office Hrs Std Office Days
Std Office Hrs Std Office Days
Global Coverage
Standard Material Handling
Standard Parts Logistics
Pickup by HP
Std Turn-Around
No Usage Limitation
HP Ships to Customer Site
Deliverables: Hardware Problem Diagnosis
Offsite Support & Materials

Service type: Wty: HP Support for Initial Setup
Status: Expired
Start date: 06-Jun-2011
End date: 05-Dec-2011
Service level: NextAvail TechResource Remote
Std Office Hrs Std Office Days
2 Hr Remote Response
Unlimited Named Callers
Deliverables: Initial Setup Assistance

Does this mean I have cover, if my Hard Disk breaks?
And if so, how do I go about getting a replacement sent... do I phone a support number?
Thanks in advance.

fseal · 16 Feb 2012

If you decide you don't want to go the SSD route then definately!

And yeah you would have to call them to arrange the pickup of the laptop. If that HP Care Pack is for real, that's pretty nice.

logicearth · 16 Feb 2012

There is also what is called a hybrid hard drive, if you want the same large capacity (500 GB) that is reasonable in price and still get some performance benefits...Seagate has a 500 GB and 750 GB Hybrid Hard Drives. ($250 at least for US consumers)

Momentus XT Solid State Hybrid Hard Drive | Seagate

whs · 16 Feb 2012

Quote: Originally Posted by logicearth

There is also what is called a hybrid hard drive, if you want the same large capacity (500 GB) that is reasonable in price and still get some performance benefits...Seagate has a 500 GB and 750 GB Hybrid Hard Drives. ($250 at least for US consumers)

Momentus XT Solid State Hybrid Hard Drive | Seagate

As far as I know, those hybrids are not worth the money - for the OS, they do nearly nothing because you are still subjected to the long access time of the HDD. For that kind of money there are better SSD options.