7200rpm vs. 5400rpm Dell

What are the advantages of a 7200rpm hard drive??

All I can think of is that it will be faster. But doesn't it kill the battery?


Which one would you guys recommend for a 1420?

I am ordering TODAY, so please reply ASAP!




one last question... are Dell's cyber monday deals any good?? There is a coupon that expires today and I want to use it. Not sure if I should wait for monday...

 

I'll take 7200rpm even if it drains the battery, and yes it is worth it.

 

The 7200rpm is definitely faster and doesn't make that much of a difference in battery life, your usage will have a bigger effect (what you're doing with your comp). I have it and can still get over 3 hrs of battery life while using word/firefox and good power settings.

 

isn't there heat issues with a 7200rpm hd's on laptops?? I heard the 5400 runs cooler...

 

The 5400 does run cooler, but only by a little bit. Anyways, the laptop is designed to accommodate at 7200rpm hard drive, so don't worry about it overheating or something.

 

go for 7200. It's the weakest link in your syste, and you may as well get the best performance you can get, assuming price is no object.

 

Honestly benchmarks show little to no difference between 5200 and 7200 in generic computer use.

Although if you plan to capture video off a camcorder for example, you will see HUGE differences. Because 5200 can't keep up and drops frames left and right. Even 7200 RPM isn't enough. That's why I upgraded my notebook drive to a 10,000RPM. Runs perfectly.

The faster the more hotter, also more battery consumption.

 

Here is a database that compares several laptop hard drives at various speeds:
http://www23.tomshardware.com/storage25.html

It gives performance and power consumption differences. Generally speaking, 7300 rpm's are faster and use more power.

Fuzzy

 

I've stuck with 7200 rpms in desktop, D610, and now the M1330 for some time.
Wanted to replace the 7200 main drive in the D610- but our IT staff can't find any 7200 IDE notebook drives anymore.... so I had to tell them to drop it to a 5400 ;-(

 

Your computer will be limited by it's slowest part, which will be the hard drive.
Go for the 7200 if you can afford it.
Heat shouldn't be a problem and the battery drainage should be minimal
Boot times are a lot faster