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Laptop hard drives act as the main storage of this laptop. This is where your files, apps, and data are stored. The normal measurement of the drive is 2.5 x 2.5 inches. It is lighter and more compact compared to that of a desktop. It also has various storage capacities.
Please note that there are many types of hard drives. Make sure what you get is compatible with your laptop. It comes in different sizes and capacities. Lower spec laptops may not work well with very large storage capacity. Some computers are also picky about brands. Even if the size is right, if it’s made by a certain rival brand, it won’t work perfectly.
Sometimes it is recommended to get a hard drive from the same brand as your laptop. Try it first before you buy it and make sure the computer can read the drive without error. There are also the generic brands that might work on your laptop as well.
There are two types of laptop hard drives: internal laptop hard drives and external laptop hard drives.
The laptop’s internal hard drive is installed inside the device. It’s in the laptop’s dedicated hard drive slot. Its normal storage capacity ranges between 20 GB and 120 GB. The most modern of this type reaches speeds of up to 5400 rpm. The common data transfer rate is 100 MBps. The most common brands of internal hard drive are Seagate, CMS and Toshiba.
The external hard drive of the laptop is independent. This device has a USB connector that can be plugged into the laptop’s USB port or FireWire port. Normal storage ranges between 40 GB and 80 GB. The external hard drive of the laptop must have a large capacity so that it can store more data.
The advantage of this is that because it is stand-alone, it is easy to transfer files to other computers by simply plugging it into the USB port. It’s also easier to carry than having to carry the entire laptop if it’s installed indoors, especially when you need to take only your data files with you.
There are also two speed options for you to choose from when buying the external hard drive for laptop. The first is that you have to choose the high-speed memory or hard drive cache size. The second is the availability of the special interface and adapters.
When it comes to size and speed, the standard for portable drives is 2.5 inches. These come in different speeds from 4200rpm to 7200rpm. The higher the rpm, the faster it opens.
There are two common interfaces: Parallel-ATA (PATA) and Serial-ATA. The first type of interface was on the market since 1986. This is a 16-bit interface commonly known as Integrated Drive Electronics. It has a built-in driver that has computer installation. You can transfer data up to 133 MB per second. This is the standard interface for most laptops.
On the other hand, serial-ATA was introduced in the year 2000. It can transfer up to 300 MB per second. It certainly has many benefits of Parallel ATA.
The standard capacity of a laptop is up to 160 GB. This depends on the model of your laptop. There are newer models of laptops that can offer higher capacities. These will be developed soon enough and will be released on the market.