Low power/heat laptop HD?

[Neil Maxwell]

I've got an old Dell 5000e that I'm trying to squeeze another year of
life out of. I replaced the old 4200 rpm HD with a Seagate Momentus
40G 5400 rpm a year ago, which failed and was replace with a Toshiba
40G 5400 rpm drive a few months back, which then failed and was
replaced with the warranty Seagate replacement.

It looks like the Dell is having trouble handling the extra heat from
these HDs (I keep the cooling fan and vents clean), so I'm looking for
a lower-power HD to stick in there and see if it helps.

I imagine any 4200 rpm drive would help, but is there a particularly
low-power and reliable laptop HD?

 

[Rod Speed]

I've got an old Dell 5000e that I'm trying to squeeze another year of
life out of. I replaced the old 4200 rpm HD with a Seagate Momentus
40G 5400 rpm a year ago, which failed and was replace with a Toshiba
40G 5400 rpm drive a few months back, which then failed and was
replaced with the warranty Seagate replacement.

It looks like the Dell is having trouble handling the extra heat from these
HDs

Yeah, lousy design, they run the hard drives right on
the edge of what the hard drive manufacturer allows
with the low end Dell craptops, and that kills drives.

(I keep the cooling fan and vents clean), so I'm looking
for a lower-power HD to stick in there and see if it helps.

It doesnt really, the problem is that they still get very hot.

I imagine any 4200 rpm drive would help, but is there
a particularly low-power and reliable laptop HD?

They all get much too hot.

 

[Arno Wagner]

I've got an old Dell 5000e that I'm trying to squeeze another year of
life out of. I replaced the old 4200 rpm HD with a Seagate Momentus
40G 5400 rpm a year ago, which failed and was replace with a Toshiba
40G 5400 rpm drive a few months back, which then failed and was
replaced with the warranty Seagate replacement.

It looks like the Dell is having trouble handling the extra heat from
these HDs (I keep the cooling fan and vents clean), so I'm looking for
a lower-power HD to stick in there and see if it helps.

I imagine any 4200 rpm drive would help, but is there a particularly
low-power and reliable laptop HD?

When looking the last timne I noticed that Seagate had paricular
high power consumption, both active and idle. I use a Fujitsu
5400rpm disk whixh is much better, both from the specs as in
practice. The relevant numbers in the disk manual/data sheet
are power consumption idle and active (or r/w or the like).

Arno

 

[Arno Wagner]

When looking the last timne I noticed that Seagate had paricular
high power consumption, both active and idle. I use a Fujitsu
5400rpm disk whixh is much better, both from the specs as in
practice. The relevant numbers in the disk manual/data sheet
are power consumption idle and active (or r/w or the like).

Here is a recoent comparison also including power figures.
Seems Fujitsu is not that good today:

http://storagereview.com/articles/200511/notebook_1.html

Arno

 

[Neil Maxwell]

Here is a recoent comparison also including power figures.
Seems Fujitsu is not that good today:

http://storagereview.com/articles/200511/notebook_1.html

Thanks - this is very helpful! I don't really need a drive this big,
but it may be the path of least resistance.

 

[Neil Maxwell]

Yeah, lousy design, they run the hard drives right on
the edge of what the hard drive manufacturer allows
with the low end Dell craptops, and that kills drives.

This was actually a mid-end laptop in its day (ran about $2500 back in
2000). The original 12G 4200 rpm drive held up very well for 4 years,
and is still in the good parts drawer - it just wasn't big enough.

Everything's been running a good bit hotter and a bit more unstable,
including the PCMCIA cards, since moving up to the bigger 5400 rpm
drives. It looks like the extra power pushed it over the edge.

 

[Rod Speed]

This was actually a mid-end laptop in
its day (ran about $2500 back in 2000).

Pretty sure those ran the hard drive much too hot too.

Trivial to test, use everest.

The original 12G 4200 rpm drive held up very well for 4 years,
and is still in the good parts drawer - it just wasn't big enough.

Everything's been running a good bit hotter and a bit more unstable,
including the PCMCIA cards, since moving up to the bigger 5400
rpm drives. It looks like the extra power pushed it over the edge.

Or it was always a very marginal design heat wise.

 

[Arno Wagner]

Thanks - this is very helpful!

You are welcome.

I don't really need a drive this big,
but it may be the path of least resistance.

I think so too.

Arno

 

[Neill Massello]

I've got an old Dell 5000e that I'm trying to squeeze another year of
life out of. I replaced the old 4200 rpm HD with a Seagate Momentus
40G 5400 rpm a year ago, which failed and was replace with a Toshiba
40G 5400 rpm drive a few months back, which then failed and was
replaced with the warranty Seagate replacement.

It looks like the Dell is having trouble handling the extra heat from
these HDs (I keep the cooling fan and vents clean), so I'm looking for
a lower-power HD to stick in there and see if it helps.

I imagine any 4200 rpm drive would help, but is there a particularly
low-power and reliable laptop HD?

Try a 4200rpm Hitachi Travelstar. PriceGrabber still lists several in
the 30GB to 60GB range for less than $70.