There is a late 2006 laptop with a 120GB 5400 RPM drive that is running rather slow. I'm wondering if it is worth upgrading to a 320GB 7200 RPM drive. I think that is one platter by now.
question Upgrade HD Worthwhile
- Thread starter LunarMist
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If you have an old machine that seems to be running slow, my first reaction is simply defrag it. My second reaction is get more ram. Also, you need to figure out if the slowness issues have anything at all to do with the HD for it is quite possible that your old processor just doesn't have enough horsepower for the modern bloatware. Only after those issues have been dealt with would I consider upgrading the drive.
And yes, a modern 7200 RPM drive will be a major step up to an old 5400 laptop drive. The bigger the upgraded drive the faster the drive will feel because of the increase in bit density creates a faster STR. As to its value, that depends on personal choice.
And yes, a modern 7200 RPM drive will be a major step up to an old 5400 laptop drive. The bigger the upgraded drive the faster the drive will feel because of the increase in bit density creates a faster STR. As to its value, that depends on personal choice.
CougTek
Hairy Aussie
It would be a cheap upgrade and you should notice an improvement.
Ddrueding will tell you to buy a SSD. If you answer that you need capacity and that you don't want to spend much, he'll still tell you to buy an SSD. In fact, I expect him to change his name to SSDdrueding some day.
A SSD would yield a very significant performance boost over your old 5400rpm, but it's an expensive one. 120GB SandForce or Intel drives are ~230$. The 320GB 7200rpm should be ~50-60$.
Now I'll wait for David to write that you should buy an SSD... ;-)
Ddrueding will tell you to buy a SSD. If you answer that you need capacity and that you don't want to spend much, he'll still tell you to buy an SSD. In fact, I expect him to change his name to SSDdrueding some day.
A SSD would yield a very significant performance boost over your old 5400rpm, but it's an expensive one. 120GB SandForce or Intel drives are ~230$. The 320GB 7200rpm should be ~50-60$.
Now I'll wait for David to write that you should buy an SSD... ;-)
CougTek
Hairy Aussie
BTW, are you sure your 2006 laptop uses a SATA drive? There were still plenty of IDE hard drives back then.
Stereodude
Not really a
I think he'll tell him to buy a new laptop.
time
0
Ditto.
Mercutio
Fatwah on Western Digital
A laptop fom 2006 would need three things to be made useful: A 7200rpm drive, a new battery and at least 2GB RAM. Depending on the notebook, a knockoff battery could be $30 to $75. Fine.
A 500GB SATA drive is probably $60 more. Whatever the biggest 7200rpm IDE drive, it's probably $100.
And 2GB of DDR probably isn't free either.
I might spend $100 to rejuvenate a notebook, but I sure as hell wouldn't spend $150.
A 500GB SATA drive is probably $60 more. Whatever the biggest 7200rpm IDE drive, it's probably $100.
And 2GB of DDR probably isn't free either.
I might spend $100 to rejuvenate a notebook, but I sure as hell wouldn't spend $150.
CougTek
Hairy Aussie
Or you can see it the other way. Any 2006 laptop is faster than any netbook sold in the past two years (a Pentium-M feels faster than any Atom - single or dual core). SSDdrueding, at least once, put a SSD in a netbook.
To be honest, I would rather use a 2006 IBM Thinkpad with a new hard drive (be it a 7200rpm or an SSD) than using a new, consumer-type, 500$-or-less laptop of any kind. Better keyboard and screen format. Of course, if the 2006 laptop isn't a business-class, it should be going to the recycling center.
To be honest, I would rather use a 2006 IBM Thinkpad with a new hard drive (be it a 7200rpm or an SSD) than using a new, consumer-type, 500$-or-less laptop of any kind. Better keyboard and screen format. Of course, if the 2006 laptop isn't a business-class, it should be going to the recycling center.
Mercutio
Fatwah on Western Digital
I do that, exactly. I keep a 15" Thinkpad R52 out by the couch in my living room. It's perfect for light browsing. It has a 1400x1050 screen and is primarily used to VNC/RDP into my other computers. With 2GB RAM and a 100GB 7200rpm drive, it's perfectly respectable, just a little bit heavy.
Stereodude
Not really a
I put a 120GB Intel G2 SSD in my 11.6" CULV Acer 1810T notebook. It's not even close to being a netbook in terms of performance. It's got 4GB of DDR2, SU7300 (1.3gHz 3MB C2D), 1366x768 screen, gigabit ethernet, etc...
The laptop definitely has a slow 120GB SATA drive, T5200 (1.6Ghz C2D?) and 2GB DDR2. I don't think more RAM is needed for XP32. Unfortunately there are no deals on good SSDs ($100 or less) at the moment or I'd buy one instead of a hard drive.
That is my limit as well.
Stereodude
Not really a
If you wait a little while I'm sure you'll be able to get a 60GB SandForce from someone other than OCZ for ~$100.
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Unfortunately I am not near a Microcenter for three more weeks. Frys is a good drive from here, but feasible. I need to do something by next week at the lastest, as I will be into the third leg of travel after that.
Stereodude
Not really a
I wouldn't buy that one. It's supposedly an A-Data and they're shipping a non production ready firmware (per SandForce). A-Data also doesn't have any firmware updates posted yet either and it's totally unknown if they will, and then if the A-Data firmware will work on the Microcenter drive.
Sandstorm has been around for a long time and the drives are fairly new. Why don't the fools have a production firmware yet? Of course I read complaints about the Corsair force, but I only had problems in RIAD. Are the Callisto 40 SSDs bad too?
Stereodude
Not really a
Read this and then see what version they're up to since then.
Stereodude
Not really a
At least A-Data is still shipping the firmware mentioned in the article. Some of the others aren't.
I should pass on any future SSD purchases until there are some faster ones with new firmware.
CougTek
Hairy Aussie
Hitachi drives are always warm. I'm sure even their SSDs are warm.
The drive was rather warm when the 231GB of data was being written to it, but temps are much cooler at idle. I'm not calling it a Hibachi by any means. :razz: I guess we'll see if it is reliable over the next year.
Santilli
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For what it's worth, here's my observations.
I used David's netbook briefly, with the X-25E in it. Processor WAS the limiting factor, and, I won't be buying a netbook anytime soon. If it was that slow with a very fast SSD
in it, well, I've yet to see one I would want, except, perhaps the one the Astound tech used that was 100 dollars. That, or lower, is what I think they are worth.
For that much data, the SSD would have been more then a new laptop.
I used David's netbook briefly, with the X-25E in it. Processor WAS the limiting factor, and, I won't be buying a netbook anytime soon. If it was that slow with a very fast SSD
in it, well, I've yet to see one I would want, except, perhaps the one the Astound tech used that was 100 dollars. That, or lower, is what I think they are worth.
For that much data, the SSD would have been more then a new laptop.
Sure. I tested a 32GB X25-E in my ultraportable back in 2008. 
That one had the 1.2GHz ULV C2D (4MB L2) from April 2008. It was faster with the SSD than a HD, though not exactly fast at anything. Today it would be considered slow for the UP class. However, the permanent modification to replace the optical drive with a 2nd 2.5" hard drive (2x750GB total) makes it of special value to me for RAW file storage/basic processing and very unusual in the 12.1" display and <3lb weight class.
The laptop being upgraded contained a T5200 (1.6GHz C2D w/2 MB L2), so I can estimate well enough what an SSD would do. A 40GB Sandstone-based drive would have been fine for the intended users, but nothing economical was available on short notice. :cat:
That one had the 1.2GHz ULV C2D (4MB L2) from April 2008. It was faster with the SSD than a HD, though not exactly fast at anything. Today it would be considered slow for the UP class. However, the permanent modification to replace the optical drive with a 2nd 2.5" hard drive (2x750GB total) makes it of special value to me for RAW file storage/basic processing and very unusual in the 12.1" display and <3lb weight class.The laptop being upgraded contained a T5200 (1.6GHz C2D w/2 MB L2), so I can estimate well enough what an SSD would do. A 40GB Sandstone-based drive would have been fine for the intended users, but nothing economical was available on short notice. :cat:
Sure. I tested a 32GB X25-E in my ultraportable back in 2008. That one had the 1.2GHz ULV C2D (4MB L2) from April 2008. It was faster with the SSD than a HD, though not exactly fast at anything. Today it would be considered slow for the UP class. However, the permanent modification to replace the optical drive with a 2nd 2.5" hard drive (2x750GB total) makes it of special value to me for RAW file storage/basic processing and very unusual in the 12.1" display and <3lb weight class.
The laptop being upgraded contained a T5200 (1.6GHz C2D w/2 MB L2), so I can estimate well enough what an SSD would do. A 40GB Sandstone-based drive would have been fine for the intended users, but nothing economical was available on short notice. :flower:
That one had the 1.2GHz ULV C2D (4MB L2) from April 2008. It was faster with the SSD than a HD, though not exactly fast at anything. Today it would be considered slow for the UP class. However, the permanent modification to replace the optical drive with a 2nd 2.5" hard drive (2x750GB total) makes it of special value to me for RAW file storage/basic processing and very unusual in the 12.1" display and <3lb weight class.The laptop being upgraded contained a T5200 (1.6GHz C2D w/2 MB L2), so I can estimate well enough what an SSD would do. A 40GB Sandstone-based drive would have been fine for the intended users, but nothing economical was available on short notice. :flower: