satellite L300 upgrade

I am hoping that someone can help me with knowledge. Presently i own and use a Toshiba Satellite L300 which I have become attached too, and instead of discarding and purchasing a new notebook I have decided to refurbish (do myself) and also maybe learn a little.
Some time ago I upgraded the RAM from 1 to 2 Mb, the next step is to replace the Hardrive.
There is also another reason to replace the Hardrive as I wish to isolate completely this new drive that will have installed applications for the tuning of my motorbike and I cannot afford to have issues.
The Hardrive installed is a Fujitsu MHZ2160BH G1 (what is the difference between G1 and a G2?) Does anybody know if I have to purchase another Fujitsu or is there other compatible brands that will suffice?
Is it possible to install a solid state Hardrive? is there an advantage or due to the age of the notebook it is impracticable?
If anybody has other information or suggestions I would appreciate your constructive comments, please keep in mind that I am a Pipefitter and not a computer boffin, but willing to have a go.
Cheers Paul.

 

Hi Paul, what operating system are you running?

Also, what do you do with this computer - Internet surfing, MS Office, etc?

Regardless a hard drive upgrade will help improve performance. Yes you can install an SSD (which would offer the biggest performance improvement).

Lastly, what is your budget for upgrades?

 

Charles,
I have Ubuntu 10.4 installed but will have to go to a MS OS, probably XP or Win 7. I will have to go back to the dark side as the application that I require for the HD engine management is only configured for MS.
Most times I Internet surf, email and my preffered word processor is Open Office.org 3.2.
My budget is not great, I have to take into consideration that I will also be purchasing one of the MS OSs. What would a SSD cost? I have not researched this aspect just yet.
Cheers Paul.

 

I have run the AIM software for motorcycle engine management/GPS and data logging on an old thinkpad 570 (Win98 pentium 2 192mb ram 6gb hard drive) with no problems at all. There is no need to upgrade to an ssd to run the software, only advantage would be faster boot time and the software would load quicker, better spending the money on more sensors for the bike.
Any make of sata hard drive would do as a replacement drive

 

Are you in the US, Paul?

You already did the right upgrade first - increasing the amount of memory.

Upgrading to a faster/larger hard drive will most definitely make a noticeable difference in everyday performance. The storage device, even if it's an SSD, is the weakest link in overall performance by a long shot (by a factor of about 1000). Therefore, any increase in performance will be noticeable.

An SSD, depending on the size needed, will be around $200 for a 120GB and $400 for a 240GB. An 80GB model can be had for around $150.
On the other hand, you can get a nice Western Digital Scorpio Black 750GB 7200RPM (manufacturer product no. WD7500BPKT) or the equivalent Hitachi 7K750.
Newegg.com - Western Digital Scorpio Black WD7500BPKT 750GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache 2.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Internal Notebook Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Newegg.com - HITACHI Travelstar 7K750 H2IK7501672SP (0S03339) 750GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache 2.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Internal Notebook Hard Drive
Unfortunately due to events in Asia, hard drive prices are very high right now (about 2x what they normally are). So it is in your financial interest to wait until the supply stabilizes. I wouldn't pay more than $100-110 for those drives.

End result, by upgrading the RAM and hard drive, you will have extended the useful life of your notebook by a fair amount.

 

I would also suggest to go with an SSD in this application (vibrations from motorcycle...).

To help out with the cost of such an upgrade:

You may want to download a free/legal copy of Windows 7 from here:

See:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/win...-digitalriver-windows-7-sp1-13-languages.html


And use it for almost the next year (360 days) with this method:

See:
How to Use Windows Vista and 7 for Approx. One Year Without Activation? - Tweaking with Vishal


Yes, I know it is talking about Vista (too), but Win7 is the same with regards to the trial period (and Win7 is much better for the SSD too).

Good luck.

 

Guys, thanks for the reply s, first off, Charles I reside in Perth Western Australia, thankyou for the info and links for HDD s but I believe that I will have to persue the SSD option as previous conversations with "bike tuners" inform me that the vibration can be the biggest issue to maintain stability, even when the laptop is well padded and supported for the hot runs and tune.
tilleroftheearth, love this call sign! thankyou for the links, MS with free downloads, unheard off in this part of the world! I tried to complete a download but the house computer informed me that this will take 3 hours and 45 mins to complete, I will have to action this some other time or better still scam one of my suited buddies to download for me from one of the ivory towers. Any way good info and thanks again.
Paul.