Upgrade laptop hard drive

My laptop still fit my needs including LAN party gaming since it has a separated decent video card. However, the puny 160GB hard drive is really too small. Even worse as it was divided into 40 and 120.

I am thinking about upgrade to a 500GB, 7200RPM.

I have never opened a laptop before.
What do I need to know before I do this upgrade?


Is the 7200RPM worth the extra $ ?

Is this hd a good choice?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136692

Usually they are simple to replace....The drive you chose is good but this one is better http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...8591&cm_re=momentus_xt-_-22-148-591-_-Product

^ That Seagate is also a lot more expensive.

OC101, that WD drive is fine, I've used it before. As for physically installing it, its different for each laptop, but usually theres a plastic panel on the bottom that is screwed in. Check your laptop manual or google search.
Do you intend on re-installing Windows from scratch?

That Seagate is $50 more than the Western Digital one.
Yes, I plan to reinstall windows. I haven't done so since I bought it.

Do you know if I will be able to use both hard drives?

You guys do realize what a hybrid drive is right?

Yea, I know what they are. However, you suggested a drive that costs $50 more, the OP never said that he needed a drive faster than 7200rpm, and I know I wouldn't spend my money on a Seagate over a Western Digital, due to reliability issues I (and many others) have had with recent Seagate drives.

Just look at the 1 and 2 star reviews on newegg for both drives. Those are all doa's or failures. The Seagate drive has 23% of its reviews as 1 or 2 stars. The WD has 3% as 1 or 2 star reviews. Now even if you don't put much stock in newegg reviews, that is compelling information.

As far as installing the new drive ... You won't need a manual, small screwdriver to pull the panel off the back, 1 panel for hd, 1 for ram and the battery compartment.

In regards to the Hd replacement you should seriously consider a SSD drive. The boot up and down times are lightning fast. It's the number one improvement you could make. I understand the budget concerns but your laptop will be faster then when it was new.

I think it's more space concerns which is why I suggested the hybrid drive. It would cost more than the laptop is worth to get an actual SSD that big

Yes the 60 GBs are the only cost effective ones. By the time the OP needs to upgrade again laptops should all come with SSD's. Once the OP opens up theHD compartment they wll see what a simple job it is to replace. Good luck.