Solved Laptop HD Question

[bigmck]

I have been shopping for a laptop the last two weeks. I have looked at a lot of them. Even the expensive ones only have a 5400 rpm HD. Why don't laptops come with a faster HD?

 

[tlarseth]

I have been shopping for a laptop the last two weeks. I have looked at a lot of them. Even the expensive ones only have a 5400 rpm HD. Why don't laptops come with a faster HD?

If you look around, there is 7200RPM and SSD upgrades available on certain laptops. Mostly they are through the manufacturer's websites though that way, but I do know Sam's Club right now has a few 7200 RPM laptops available.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

I have been shopping for a laptop the last two weeks. I have looked at a lot of them. Even the expensive ones only have a 5400 rpm HD. Why don't laptops come with a faster HD?

If you look around, there is 7200RPM and SSD upgrades available on certain laptops. Mostly they are through the manufacturer's websites though that way, but I do know Sam's Club right now has a few 7200 RPM laptops available.

Yep thats right mate if the warranty lets you I personally would stick in the SSD and keep the old drive in an enclosure for an external device.

Win win cs the external doesn't have to be that fast eh?

 

[tlarseth]

If possible, I would recommend getting a laptop that allows two drives, use the SSD for windows, and the ATA drive for programs and games.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

If possible, I would recommend getting a laptop that allows two drives, use the SSD for windows, and the ATA drive for programs and games.

Yep mate that is just what I would do as my post above

Actually I think you will find a fair few of the Toshiba's although I don't like them have that ability.

 

[DeaconFrost]

Adding two drives will have an impact in battery life, and also force you to have a larger laptop.

That being said, the 5400 drives are common for laptops for two reasons, less heat and less power draw than a 7200 rpm. The trade off is, the performance dips a little, but not much. However, with an SSD, you have a low power draw, no additional heat, and performance that no spinner drive can touch.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Adding two drives will have an impact in battery life, and also force you to have a larger laptop.

That being said, the 5400 drives are common for laptops for two reasons, less heat and less power draw than a 7200 rpm. The trade off is, the performance dips a little, but not much. However, with an SSD, you have a low power draw, no additional heat, and performance that no spinner drive can touch.

True Deacon I suppose the power settings could lowered a tad though but like you said the SSD is going to knock seven bales of err something off the HDD's.


I still think it would be better just jamming in an SSD and keeping the original for data (external). Though thinking about it would there be enough power from a USB connection to drive the original HDD? Suppose there must be unless the prebuilt externals have a low power HDD in them?

 

[DeaconFrost]

Most laptops should be able to power a drive through the USB port to be external. I bought a Vantec carriage that's USB and eSATA to put the 500 GB drive in that came with my Envy Ultrabook. I put a 240 GB SSD in as the internal drive, so for everyday usage, I'm getting the benefits of an SSD.