Laptop hard drive - 5400 vs 7200rpm

[imported_CompMan86]

I'm going to be buying a Centrino (Sonoma) laptop this summer (From PowerNotebooks.com) and I want to know if I should spend a little extra money ($35) to get the 7200RPM Hitachi Travelstar or should I get the 5400rpm Seagate Momentus hard drive.

I imagine the performance increase is noticable. I do a lot of multitasking, etc, and on my desktop, the difference between a Raptor and a 7200rpm hard drive is noticable with my computer usage habits.

I guess my main concern is will the 7200rpm drive make the laptop run hotter and possibly decrease its reliability or lifespan? Thanks for the feedback

 

[Vegito]

I got it on my dell d800, its fast.. definitely worth it.. no noticeable heat difference.. i also got a 2nd 5400 drive in the same machine..

i have my notebook for 2 years now.. no problem yet..

 

[fstime]

5400 is fine.

 

[vegetation]

You can actually download a utility to save power on a Hitachi drive, usually helps provide 10-20 minutes of additional battery life on a typical 4hour Centrino.

 

[FlyingPenguin]

Big performance difference. I bought a used Dell 5150 that came with a 5400. Immediately upgraded to a 7200 and it made quite a difference. A modern 7200 will not run appreciably hotter than a 5400.

Ofcourse a lot depends how much you use your lappy and what you do with it. I run large HDD intensive apps like Photoshop and databases on mine and a faster drive makes a big difference.