HDD for a PC

[Black Hole]

I need to run a deep clean on my PC, and if I am going to all that trouble I might as well install a bigger drive while I'm at it.

The current drive is a 2.5" SATA 5400rpm 320GB WD Scorpio Blue; Dabs have a 750GB Scorpio Blue for £45, I could go down the road for a 750GB Toshiba for £60 and save the wait, or...

But I guess I need to worry about how thick it is and the power requirements

 

[Black Hole]

OK, well I'm more or less happy that a standard 1/8-height drive will fit. The original drive is specified as 1/8, but says 0.4" and the actual thing looks more like 9mm. Current requirements don't seem easy to pin down.

I have narrowed it down to a 750GB WD Scorpio Blue (£46) or a 1TB Samsung Spinpoint (£56). Any comments?

 

[Deleted member 473]

OK, well I'm more or less happy that a standard 1/8-height drive will fit. The original drive is specified as 1/8, but says 0.4" and the actual thing looks more like 9mm. Current requirements don't seem easy to pin down.

I have narrowed it down to a 750GB WD Scorpio Blue (£46) or a 1TB Samsung Spinpoint (£56). Any comments?

You can get a solid state hybrid drive, but it will cost you. Either of the above look OK. There is the WD Black too, at £60.

I have a Hitachi 750Gb in my laptop and am very pleased with the performance. It scores 5.9 on M$'s performance test. The 1Tb equivalent is about £65 on Az.

 

[Black Hole]

Well, for better or worse I have ordered the 750GB WD. It more than doubles my existing capacity (the reason my PC is struggling at the moment), is in the same range as the drive originally supplied, and is economical (£45.54 plus 98p delivery).

I already have a USB to 5.25/3.5/SATA adapter, so I should be able to plug it in, partition and format it, duplicate the existing drive onto it, and then swap it in. Then I can do the housekeeping that I was going to have to do anyway (or not - the additional capacity means I could just get away with enlarging the C: partition).