Hitachi Travelstar® 7K60 60 GB ATA-100 Hard Drive

Pros: 7200-RPM, FAST transfers, large capacity, 8MB cache
Cons: Pricey, Idle "clicking", Only available at 60GB

After purchasing a new Dell Inspiron 5100 Laptop, (Click h ere to see my review of the Dell Inspiron 5100) I immediately realized that I was going to need another hard drive. The 30GB hard drive included was more then ...

Pros: Fast, Fast, Fast
Cons: None so far.

My Epinions Philosophy When I make a purchase, epinions is one of my most valuable resources for non-biased experiences and information. When I come here to research a product I read all of the reviews and the product specifications and details ...

Pros: Unlocks the swapfile bottleneck in Windows, speeds up your system dramatically
Cons: With additional performance comes additional heat, be sure your system can take it.

I have upgraded RAM, hard drives, & performed OS tweaks on dozens of computers. In my experience, a faster hard drive is the best bang for your buck if you are looking for a performance upgrade to speed up your system.

Throughput increases dramatically. It is most noticeable with large file operations, but boot time decreased significantly as well. Much greater performance increase than a RAM upgrade (provided you have adequate RAM). A Computer system is as fast as it's slowest component, if you run Windows, you most likely have a swapfile and this is a terrific way to decrease that bottleneck.

Be forewarned, if your computer did not offer, or come factory equipped with a 7,200 RPM drive, it may not be wise to install one as they run much hotter than lower RPM drives.

At this writing, I believe there is a 100GB drive, which I would recommend in this one's place, worth every nickel & then some.

I have about four of these, almost two years running. No problems in laptops or external USB 2.0 & Firewire enclosures.

Pros: 7200RPM! Doesn't get too hot.
Cons: A little pricy, but getting cheaper!

I've had it over 6 months and still runs quiet and fast! I recommend a Chill Mat from Targus to keep the bottom of your laptop cool while using the drive because it may be slightly warmer that your old HD but cooler is better!

Pros: Fast.
Cons: Dead.

I purchased one of these two months ago, and it's already done. 7200rpm drives are fast, but they're also power-hungry and hot. Very hot. I'm not sure if over-heating led to my drive's failure, but it's almost brand new and already useless. Regardless of what killed it, I will not be replacing it.

5400rpm will have to do when I'm on the road. My machine can dish out that much current and take back that much heat. This machine wasn't offered with a 7200rpm drive in it, and now I know why.

Pros: Fast drive, competitively priced
Cons: Runs hot

Purchased this drive as an upgrade for my Toshiba M15-S405 which came with a 40G, 5400rpm drive. I ended up with a refurbished replacement drive from Hitachi after a problem with the original. I like the speed of the new drive. My only complaint is that the replacement drive runs noticeably hotter than my original 40G / 5400rpm drive.