New Hard Drive

[uJalled]

The hard drive in my HP Pavilion dv6700 laptop broke down, so I'm in the market for a new one. I have absolutely no experience when it comes to the internal hardware of my computer, so I would appreciate any advice. The hard drive I took out is a Seagate Momentus 5400 RPM SATA II

[alaricljs]

How much space do you need, what is your budget?

[nar]

Also if your budget is big enough and/or you don't need that much space, consider a SSD. It's one the things that will make your PC faster in a lot of areas easily and you can carry it over to whatever laptop you buy next if it doesn't have a SSD.

[bavman]

+1 for ssd. Unless you store large amounts of data on your laptop harddrive, 128gb or 256gb ssds are typically perfect for most people. Expect to pay $80-150 for that size range of ssds. You will love how much faster and snappier everything runs on a laptop compared to a 5.4k hdd.

[rowdy]

Doesn't look like it would be too difficult to replace if this video from HP is applicable:

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Document.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&taskId=125&prodSeriesId=3738095&prodTypeId=321957&objectID=c01277096

As above, SSD if you can, that plus a bit of extra RAM will rejuvenate your notebook like new (plus the inevitable operating system fresh install).

Or magnetic HDD if you need extra storage space.  Stick with 5400rpm so it doesn't run too hot, and just get the biggest one you can.

[bace]

I agree with the ssd. add on a external hdd if you need more space.

[alaricljs]

I took the old drive in my laptop and put it in a caddy that fits the bay where the CD/DVD goes.  Never used the ODD anyhow.  This way I have the best of both worlds, really fast storage for my immediate needs and a big pile of storage for media and backups.

[Dgsbllx]

SSD + 1
You'll never look back

[uJalled]

So will gaming be much faster on a SSD? Also are there any good recommendations of a ssd drive for a laptop? specifically my HP Pavilion DV6700

[uJalled]

How much space do you need, what is your budget?

It would be nice to keep the price under 120.

[Dgsbllx]

Ok well gaming is obviously dependent on a few things but as a general rule yes it will be faster. SSD isn't just about gaming though, even things like turning the laptop on (providing the OS is installed to the SSD) is ridiculously fast.

How much space do you need?

[uJalled]

Ok well gaming is obviously dependent on a few things but as a general rule yes it will be faster. SSD isn't just about gaming though, even things like turning the laptop on (providing the OS is installed to the SSD) is ridiculously fast.

How much space do you need?

I have a 500 GB Hitachi external hard drive, so minimum space on a SSD would be sufficient.

[rowdy]

Gaming not necessarily, as that is mostly dependent on the graphics adaptor and CPU (and perhaps RAM).  But loading the game and moving between levels should be much faster.

Also: http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=35425.0

Maybe not up to the minute, but worth a quick look.

[Dgsbllx]

My personal opinion in regards to SSD is go for Intel or Samsung - they seem to have the most favourable reviews. I remember when I looked they were more expensive but when its a hard drive piece of mind is needed! I've got a samsung and had no problems.

[uJalled]

I'm reading a bunch about the Samsung 830

http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-830-MZ-7PC256N-Internal-Laptop/dp/B005T3GPXY/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1354828143&sr=1-1&keywords=samsung+830+ssd

Would this be compatible and easily installed on my laptop? What is the difference between this one and the Samsung 840 (which is cheaper)

[alaricljs]

Yes, that should work.  Installation is no different than an HDD.

The 840 is a newer tech and from what I understand can be a tad slower so not a direct replacement for the 830.  The 840 Pro is faster, however it has been having some issues so I wouldn't recommend it till they iron those out.  The Pro is also quite a bit more spendy.

[Dgsbllx]

As long as we are talking about the 840 and not the 840 pro, the 830 is generally regarded as more reliable than the 840. And I don't feel that the 840 pro price leap is justified.
The 840 uses cheaper tlc nand whereas the 830 uses better quality mlc nand. I'd go 830 over 840, but the price difference over here is like $10 so it doesn't make that much difference - unsure on the price difference in your part of the world.

In regards to fitting your laptop I am under the assumption that any ssd will fit but don't quote me on that, I'm sure someone will be able to clarify.

[alaricljs]

They do actually make 3.5" SSDs, and they make super thin SSDs that some laptops just aren't able to deal with.

So not quite any, but most.

[TheProfosist]

Go Samsung 840 or 840 Pro

[bavman]

You can't go wrong with crucial M4s either. I have several of them in my desktop and laptop and never had a problem. plus theyve been getting cheaper and cheaper everyday.

[TheProfosist]

M4s are so old school now days thats like getting a samsung F3 or F4 solid preformers in there day but new things run circles round them.

[uJalled]

What about one of these hybrids?
http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Momentus-Solid-Hybrid-ST95005620AS/dp/B003NSBF32/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1354892804&sr=8-1&keywords=seagate+momentus+xt

[TheProfosist]

im not too impressed with hybrids i consider them for people who dont know how to properly utilize a SSD/HDD combo

[alaricljs]

I know quite a few people with laptops that are very happy with the Momentus.  However, it's only 4GB of flash so it's really going to depend on your usage patterns as to whether you notice any worthwhile speedups.

I have over 4GB of email that I search on a regular basis.  Since my main drive is an SSD I don't worry about what is or isn't being cached on flash and all my apps and searches are snappy.