Hard disk for Thinkpad 600E and number of milliampere

[Dan Polansky]

Hello, I have seen that some IBM Travelstar hard disks have 500 mA
while others have 1.0A. I am considering buying one for IBM Thinkpad
600E notebook, which currently has a harddisk with 500 mA. Does the
number of milliampere matter? Should I restrict myself to hard disks
with 500 mA? Could a hard disk with 1.0A hurt the notebook? Thank you.
Regards, Dan

 

[Rod Speed]

I have seen that some IBM Travelstar hard
disks have 500 mA while others have 1.0A.

Its much more complicated than that.

I am considering buying one for IBM Thinkpad 600E
notebook, which currently has a harddisk with 500 mA.
Does the number of milliampere matter?

Yes. It will obviously make a difference to the time on battery,
and can make a difference if the design of the laptop sees the
current drive operation right on the edge of what is allowed
temperature wise. A higher mA means more heat dissipated
in the drive and that can see the drive get too hot if it increases.

Should I restrict myself to hard disks with 500 mA?

Depends on whether you care about the time on battery.

And the new drive may be better at going to idle than the old
one was, so it may not necessarily be any worse time on battery.

Could a hard disk with 1.0A hurt the notebook?

No, but it can hurt the drive if it ends up getting too hot
because the temperature is marginal with the original drive.
Should be fine in that 600E tho.

 

[Arno Wagner]

Hello, I have seen that some IBM Travelstar hard disks have 500 mA
while others have 1.0A. I am considering buying one for IBM Thinkpad
600E notebook, which currently has a harddisk with 500 mA. Does the
number of milliampere matter? Should I restrict myself to hard disks
with 500 mA? Could a hard disk with 1.0A hurt the notebook? Thank you.
Regards, Dan

First, the power rating (sutained power draw) is exremely important.
If it is too high, the disk will overheat and die young. Typically
you should not go over 2W. The current stated on the disk is the
maximum current, typically consumed on start-up. It may damage your
computer if the designers did not expect a 1A disk to be used.

Arno

 

[Folkert Rienstra]

First, the power rating (sutained power draw) is exremely important.

If it is too high, the disk will overheat and die young.

Obviously that depends on the way it takes care of offloading the (excess) energy.

Typically you should not go over 2W.

Well, there go the 500mA ones.

The current stated on the disk is the maximum current, typically consumed on start-
up. It may damage your computer if the designers did not expect a 1A disk to be used.

If competently designed they will just shutdown.

 

[Dan Polansky]

Hello all, thank you for your replies. I have just installed a new 20
GB IBM Travelstar hard disk with 1.0A into my Thinkpad 600E without any
problems so far. Regards, Dan