Hi all. I have a Gateway notebook MX6425 (~2-3 years old) that I use for work purposes (I'm a grad student, and it's the computer I use at work, but it's my own personal computer). It's plenty fast CPU-wise for what I need to do (mostly email, internet, working up data with Matlab, word processing, etc--nothing hardcore). By far the weakest point is the hard drive (see specs below). Major laggage is encountered when starting programs, and I'm considering upgrading the HD.
Specs:
CPU: AMD Turion 1.8GHz, 1MB cache (not X2) Socket 754 (eek!!! No dual-channel RAM!!!)
RAM: 1GB Kingston RAM
HD: 100GB 5200rpm HD (might actually be a 4800rpm drive--will check with Sandra lite in a sec...)
GFX: ATI Radeon Xpress 200M chipset gfx (don't so much care about this)
OS: Windows XP SP2 (no intention to switch to Vista, but might dual-boot Linux eventually...)
I'm okay on space, but I wouldn't be opposed to a larger HD if it's a good deal. I'm really considering getting a 7200rpm drive to help with OS load times and program startup times. I know, when on battery, it would be a power-drainer, but I have two batteries for a total of ~9 hours of usage time for now. This lappy runs pretty cool too, and I use a desktop chiller, so I'm not too concerned about heat either.
Do you all think it would be a worth-while upgrade? If so, what 100GB or greater HD's would you recommend. For notebook HD's, I've always been partial to Hitachi (they're quiet, and I've never had one die on me). I'm steering away from Maxtor because despite when I've gotten a Maxtor drive, they've been both noisy and not durable. Any suggestions are welcome! Thanks!
EDIT--The interface is IDE133 (or perhaps 100, I'm not sure)--not SATA
Specs:
CPU: AMD Turion 1.8GHz, 1MB cache (not X2) Socket 754 (eek!!! No dual-channel RAM!!!)
RAM: 1GB Kingston RAM
HD: 100GB 5200rpm HD (might actually be a 4800rpm drive--will check with Sandra lite in a sec...)
GFX: ATI Radeon Xpress 200M chipset gfx (don't so much care about this)
OS: Windows XP SP2 (no intention to switch to Vista, but might dual-boot Linux eventually...)
I'm okay on space, but I wouldn't be opposed to a larger HD if it's a good deal. I'm really considering getting a 7200rpm drive to help with OS load times and program startup times. I know, when on battery, it would be a power-drainer, but I have two batteries for a total of ~9 hours of usage time for now. This lappy runs pretty cool too, and I use a desktop chiller, so I'm not too concerned about heat either.
Do you all think it would be a worth-while upgrade? If so, what 100GB or greater HD's would you recommend. For notebook HD's, I've always been partial to Hitachi (they're quiet, and I've never had one die on me). I'm steering away from Maxtor because despite when I've gotten a Maxtor drive, they've been both noisy and not durable. Any suggestions are welcome! Thanks!
EDIT--The interface is IDE133 (or perhaps 100, I'm not sure)--not SATA