Our continuing series on laptop hard drives and what makes them tick (hopefully not click), beats on with a look at Dell laptop hard drives. Dell doesn’t make their own hard drives they rely on other companies products. I personally own 2 Dell computers, a notebook, and a desktop. I went with them because of their support. No one is better supporting their customers than Dell.
When researching this post I spoke with a few of our engineers (independently) about the types of hard drives Dell uses in their notebooks. I was surprised to hear “the best”. I was told that after years of bad experiences Dell realized that they save money in the long run by putting in the most heat resistive hard disks since then they don’t have to replace them in 6 months.
If you DO have a Dell laptop that has a failing hard disk drive and you need data recovery, more than likely, internal hard drive recovery, Call Toll Free: 1-866-438-6932 or fill out an online quote form if you need hard drive recovery.
OK the sales portion of this post is now out of the way, lets look at the most common options you will see when configuring your Dell laptop computer. With storage there are many different hard drives to choose from. The less expensive your overall notebook, the cheaper the hard drive. That being said, if you have to invest a little money put into a good drive!
The question is what is a good drive? Well they don’t even tell you on the lesser Inspiron 1501 who make the hard drive! Your choice is 60 or 80 GB, but no manufacturer. They use whatever they can get at a good bulk price on the cheaper laptops. If you can choose the Western Digital Scorpio, do so. It is the best 5400 RPM drive mainly because it uses power like the old and slow 4200 RPM drive. The thing to be careful of is when looking at the 7200 RPM hard drive available for Dell laptops, speed creates heat and heat creates hard drive recovery.
No matter which drive you go with, remember to keep it cool. Here is a product that I use on my personal Dell XPS:
Fold-able and compact, the Vantec LapCool 4 is ideal for those wanting a cooler notebook but want to keep size to a minimum. Dual, adjustable fans keep your laptop cool while retractable legs can keep your laptop at a level that is comfortable. Featuring a 3-port USB 2.0 hub and an 8 in 1 card reader makes the LapCool 4 perfect as a portable docking station. The LapCool 4 also includes 2 storage compartments at its base, well suited for storing memory cards and cables. Easy to store, easy to carry, easy to use, the Vantec LapCool 4 is the easy choice for a laptop cooler. Remember that Heat kills hard drives!
Dell and other laptop manufacturers seem to have taken to heart the fact that hard drives; as well as other electrical components, need to be kept cool. I have also noticed the external hard drive manufacturers have also made an effort to better ventilate their products, as well. However, the best drive is a drive that is backed up. In my humble opinion 🙂
Hard drive manufacturers have been trying very hard to conform to consumer demand for some time to create larger inexpensive have drives. I think they are finally starting to put as much energy into the stability of disk media as ariel density. I know Western Digital is producing more solid platforms as are other drive manufacturers. I think the consumer will pay for quality. I believe there is a market for quality. Not just percieved value like designer jeans but the extra dollar for a platform that has higher quality components. Nothing is more importnat or more vulnerable for that matter than the data we store on our hard drive. The media is contains the only moving parts in the PC aside from heat fans. I believe consumers would pay twice as much for the same capacity drive that is less likely to fail. Just my thoughts.
savagemonk, that is an interesting statement, can you post a link to the article?
Actually, Google has recently published results from tests that they have done. They found that although newer hard drives can benefit from cooler environments, middle aged and older hard drives actually perform better at temperatures slightly higher than normal. Just something to keep in mind.
I have a Dell 1501 and it is not detecting the harddrive is there something that can be done about this? I have called Dell and none of the techs seem to be able to help with the issue, do I need to purchase a new harddrive?
Thanks
Tina,
When a hard drive is no longer recognized in the bios, it usually means the drive has a physical problem. Is it under warranty? If not then you should definitely replace the drive ASAP and hold on to it so you can try and recover the data off of it with software. If there isn’t any data you want to keep, then just replace it.
I had a similar problem with a Gateway machine and the techs there were not helpful either. Try this as it worked for me–remove the cover to the harddrive and write down the specs printed on the sticker of that drive. replace the cover and boot up your bios screen.
Find your drive configuration and MANUALLY enter the specs off your harddrive. save changes and reboot. My laptop came back to life–hope yours does!
Dale,
Thanks for the tip, we all appreciate it!
You can’t replace your Dell laptop hard drive though if you want to upgrade to a better one. Laptop hard drives should all be made the same way.
Mike,
I’ve been trying to replace my laptop 100gb hard drive on my Inspiron 9300 and been having issues with the replacement not booting after working fine for a month. I’ve subsequently tried 2 other drives Seagate 5400 (160gb and 120gb). Rang Dell and they reckoned there could be power issues with the 160gb so I tried a 120gb but still no grief – end up after a few days with a flashing cursor top left.
So I’m interested in your comment saying you can’t replace your dell laptop hard drive? What is the story round this?
Cheers
Rob