Laptop performance increase

[slam]

Thinking I should replace the HD in my laptop.
dell inspiron (celery) 2650 . would it be worth
finding a faster drive. Whats the best place to look for laptop drives?

HARD DRIVE, 20GB, I, 2.5" FORM FACTOR, 9.5MM, IBM-CASCADE
unknown speed? think it may be 4200

looking at travelstar 7k60 for $173 but any ideas for faster drive and lower price would be helpful.

(256 memory may be skimpy too. although its just an office system)

[slam]

I looked at the memory and could up the memory by 128 only. it has the bslot filled with 128 so I could change out for a 256. the a slot is not visible so how hard is it to get to.
Would going from 256 to 384 ram be all that helpful in your opinion?

[mobo57]

If you are running XP or 2000, anything over 128 will increase performance. 128 is about the absolute minimum for 2k, 256 for XP. Yes, a faster hd will be noticable in certain situations, such as loading your os and programs. I upgraded my 5400 to a 7200 on my new dell D810. Did notice a difference in loading times.

[naptownman]

A faster drive and increasing RAM would imrove performance a lot. You can run 256 mb with XP but you'll want to turn off the "eye candy" soecial effects and run for best performance.

[slam]

I have xp pro, 256 ram in system can up to 384.
any specific HD best bang for buck.
8meg cache vs 16 meg cache?

[mobo57]

384 over 256 is good. more memory is usually better. 16 meg over 8meg is also better.

[Midknyte]

The largest buffer i've seen on a laptop hd is 8MB. where did you see a 16MB model?

faster spindle speed hdds will give you better performance, but also drain your battery quicker. If you want max performance, then get a 7200rpm drive.

ANY memory increase will help. You can have 2 256MB modules in that dell.
http://www.pny.com/configurator/config4.asp

[mobo57]

Toshiba sells them:
http://www.directron.com/toshiba.html

[Midknyte]

Toshiba sells them:
http://www.directron.com/toshiba.html

Nice. that must be one hella fast drive.

[slam]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?Manufactory=&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=354%3A7760&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&description=&MinPrice=&MaxPrice=&SubCategory=380&Submit=Property


ok so which would be better?

5400 rpm with 16mb cache
or 7200 rpm with 8 mb cache
overall performance wise

[slam]

is it easy to get to the other memory location. its not just behind the cover on the back like slot b.

[Midknyte]

it would depend on the function. it's like comparing a diamond max10 16MB against a WD Raptor. in some instances, the rpm is better, in others the cache is better.

on a laptop, i would probably lean towards the 5400/16 since it would give you good performance and save on battery.

i would guess the other memory slot is under the keyboard.

[slam]

http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/IDE/hitachi_travelstar60GB_7200/travelstar60GB_7200rpm.html


this performance eval shows the 7200 drive stomping the others. however we are also looking at cost of $67 vs $173

overall performance increase is what I am looking for vs the old drive in the system.
I have no real specs on the dell drive. the dell site gave me nothing to really go on.

boot, program loading, office suites is that cache or spindle based for speed?

[Midknyte]

good review. You get similar results in the desktop world:
here's the WD Raptor VS the Maxtor Maxline III (same as the DM10)
http://www.storagereview.com/php/benchmark/suite_v1.php?typeID=10&testbedID=3&osID=4&raidconfigID=1&numDrives=1&devID_0=259&devID_1=265&devCnt=2

The Raptor is generally faster even though it has less cache.

If you don't care about battery life, then the 7200rpm will be the fastest overall.

It's your call. either drive should be quite a bit faster than your old 4200rpm drive since it was only a 20G (lower platter density).

[slam]

I wish storage review had notebook review. I already searched their site for these drives and found 0 on them.
Now I have to think on the $$$... thanks for all input