Replacing laptop hard drive - same brand but different model

book12

I have another laptop and the hard drive has broken down. I will be buying a new laptop hard drive.

I am planning to buy the hard drive that has the same brand name as the one that has broken down, but a different model to the old one. Do you think it will work? The reason for buying the same brand name, with a different model is that the old model is discontinued.

Suggestions/advice appreciated.

Eric_Pisch

Computers do not care about hard drive manufacturers and models, there all the same to them.

The only thing that's you need to take into account are

Is it the same physical size so that it will fit, Drives come in a couple of standard sizes

Does it have the same connection type, most drives are SATA now but some older laptops use other types of connectors.

Does my computer support a drive of size XXX most recent computers support just about everything, some older ones may need a BIOS upgrade to support larger drives, some very old computers have a limit to the max size they can support. You can check this on the manufacturers website.

Is how fast the drive runs important to me? Performance between different models and manufacturers can vary alot, eg solid state drives are normally a lot faster (apart from the very cheap ones, and there quieter), Web sites like Toms Hardware can give you an idea on drive performance.


It may be worth noting that some laptops have recovery partitions on which if you want to keep you will have to "clone" the old drive onto the new one. If you have a reinstall disc or have a new OS for it then this is not so important.

TimothyEBaldwin

The brand is irrelevant.

The drive should have the same form factor (eg 2,5 inch) and interface (eg SATA or IDE).

The capacity also needs to be enough for your needs.