g50vt hdd replacement

i got a refurb g50vt off ebay, ohh, half a year ago. about 2 months ago the hard drive made squeaking/jittering sounds. i turned it off and it would turn itself on and off a couple times and whenever it did get into windows it would freak out and windows would freeze (Win7 btw) but magically after about 30 minutes of chaos and stuff it fixed itself somehow.

this just happened again, except it lasted longer.

i dont think i am covered by asus warranty anymore (i got like 90 days or something) but im fairly sure it isnt too hard to replace a laptop hdd, especially on a g50vt. if some one could recommend me a hdd to replace it with and a guide with how to do it, i would be very thankful

thanks in advance!
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EDIT: and if for some reason this laptop does die, what would be a good alternative in the 1000$ range? i dont mind sticking with asus although i was looking for something smaller with better battery life

 

I'd suggest getting a Western Digital 500gb or 640gb hard drive.

Disassemble guide for the G50 can be found here:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=318551

 

thank you very much. nice to know there is a whole guide

 

ok i just ordered the 500gb one, should i notice any changes from the old 320gb? i noticed that the 500gb was 5400 rpm and my old one was 7200rpm