new harddrive limitations for laptop

[David Sudlow]

My 5 year-old laptop (an ASUS 8400 base) has a Fujitsu MHN2200AT 20GB
hard-drive. If I need to replace it what are my options/limitations?

Obviously the new drive needs to be the same size - are the connectors
standard? (It has ATA-5). Would there be any capacity limits due to the
BIOS or are we past that era?

I'd be looking on e-bay or new if not too expensive.

Would this generic 80GB hard-drive from Amazon uk work for instance?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Generic-Not...6?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1188811934&sr=8-9

Any advice welcome.

 

[Mike Walsh]

This drive will almost certainly work. The only trouble you might have would be with a larger drive i.e. more that 128/137 GB.

 

[Paul]

My 5 year-old laptop (an ASUS 8400 base) has a Fujitsu MHN2200AT 20GB
hard-drive. If I need to replace it what are my options/limitations?

Obviously the new drive needs to be the same size - are the connectors
standard? (It has ATA-5). Would there be any capacity limits due to the
BIOS or are we past that era?

I'd be looking on e-bay or new if not too expensive.

Would this generic 80GB hard-drive from Amazon uk work for instance?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Generic-Not...6?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1188811934&sr=8-9


Any advice welcome.

The drive is described here as having a 44 pin IDC interface. That
is a ribbon cable format common to older drives. The very latest
drives use SATA (serial ATA), where the connector would be different.
So as long as the replacement has 44 pin ribbon cable, it might work.
The ribbon cable is similar to the desktop 40 pin interface, except power
is also carried on the cable, and that is what accounts for the extra pins.
The 44 pin interface doesn't need a separate power connector.

http://www.ciao.co.uk/Fujitsu_Mobile_MHN2200AT_20_GB__5408775

There are standards for the thickness of drives as well. As the
platter count goes up, so do the exterior dimensions. I don't know
if I could find a table that lists all the alternatives. I'm not sure
this one is complete (and could well be referring to 5 1/4" drives).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_disk_drive

"Ultra low profile" drives can have heights of 0.75", 0.67", 0.49" or 0.37"

Laptop drives are generally pretty low power, at least compared to
desktop drives. But some will operate hotter than others. So, for
example, there are cases where you might be tempted to put a 7200RPM
drive in its place, but if the cooling isn't very good in there, the
drive temp might be warmer than the old one.

HTH,
Paul