need a new hard drive

**1MileCrash** · 10-14-2009, 11:16 AM

well as some may have read my hard drive on my dell e1505 took a shit on me about a month ago. so i need to pick up a new one.

problem is is that i'm not entirely certain what it is that i'm doing in looking for a new one.

please tell me what information i need to put out here so that you folks can help me understand what i need to do.

i'll start by saying that i THINK that the old hard drive was either 120GB or 250GB...but i can't remember. i was thinking of upgrading to a larger one...a 320gig or perhaps a 500gig. they are pretty cheap on places like newegg.com and comptick.com.

they all say that the computer needs to be S-ATA connection compatible...what is this and how do i determine if i have it? also i see that there are two types of it...a 1.x something and a 3.0x something...i can't remember exactly. what's the difference and can they be used interchangebly?

finally i guess i should ask if getting a larger hard drive will do much good or be all that useable on a 4 year old laptop. it's a centrino duo-core processor...something like a 1.5gigahertz...i'd have to double check that the info sheet is at home.

please help.

**KahanaReef** · 10-14-2009, 10:36 PM

I'm not familiar with Dell laptops. But, did find this:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=361654

And looks like this would work.

Dell Inspiron E1505 (dual-core)
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/p...9&sku=341-3508

From what I could find, I think the e1505 came with an 80GB Hard drive.

Again, sorry, I'm not familiar with Dell

**Blown Interceptor** · 10-15-2009, 07:01 AM

They are very easy too change, I work for Dell and have done many Mobo and HDD swaps on those.

Two screws on the bottom(underside) of the machine, lower right of the laptop and slide it out...it doesn't get any easier than that...

I think they did come w/80gb from the factory, you can upgrade. Just put your make, model into newegg search...yes, they are SATA drives...

**krese** · 10-15-2009, 09:44 AM

support.dell.com and type in your service code.. that will give you all the info you need on what kind of drive you have.

if i recall from your last post you said your laptop was about 4 years old correct? my GUESS is that it is not sata but IDE. there still should be plenty of laptop ide drives out there from newegg for you to buy if you have an IDE in there.

EDIT - i will look it up for you on support.dell.com and post back

**1MileCrash** · 10-15-2009, 09:54 AM

thanks for the responses everyone.

without having gone to dell for any answers at this point i would pose one other question.

does the packaging list info sheet on the components of the hardware in the computer (or the hard drive itself) say anything about it being SATA or IDE? would that be typical to have that info on their or not?

**krese** · 10-15-2009, 10:33 AM

Originally Posted by 1MileCrash

thanks for the responses everyone.

without having gone to dell for any answers at this point i would pose one other question.

does the packaging list info sheet on the components of the hardware in the computer (or the hard drive itself) say anything about it being SATA or IDE? would that be typical to have that info on their or not?

I was wrong, all of the specs i see on your laptop say that it has a SATA drive. so any of the sata drives on newegg should work just fine for you.

this looks like a good deal:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136315

400gb sata drive for $80 shipped, can't beat that with a stick for a laptop. unless you are a supergeek like me and want to spend tons of cash on a SSD drive :P

**KahanaReef** · 10-15-2009, 10:40 AM

Originally Posted by 1MileCrash

thanks for the responses everyone.

without having gone to dell for any answers at this point i would pose one other question.

does the packaging list info sheet on the components of the hardware in the computer (or the hard drive itself) say anything about it being SATA or IDE? would that be typical to have that info on their or not?

Yeah, open it up and the HD will have its info on it. Or, just look at it. The connectors are different.

**Blown Interceptor** · 10-15-2009, 10:54 AM

Originally Posted by 1MileCrash

thanks for the responses everyone.

without having gone to dell for any answers at this point i would pose one other question.

does the packaging list info sheet on the components of the hardware in the computer (or the hard drive itself) say anything about it being SATA or IDE? would that be typical to have that info on their or not?

Please read my post above on how to remove HDD...

Doesn't get any easier than this...not the same model, but the same location...

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kH3clgG17v8[/ame]

**1MileCrash** · 10-16-2009, 01:33 PM

oh i know where the hard drive is. took it out and sent it in to get the information pulled off of it. interestingly it is missing the set screws that hold it into place.

at any rate i found my spec sheet and it was a 120GB SATA drive so i'm in good shape.

i like the sounds of 400GB for $80 i might have to take a closer look at that one.

thanks again everyone.

**tnthub** · 11-08-2009, 04:37 AM

First generation SATA only supported 1.5G speeds. Many drives have a different jumper setting to to slow them down to 1.5G transfer speeds to work on older systems... The transfer rate of the drive needs to be matched to the transfer rate of your controller (on your system board), in order for the hard drive to work in your system.

**krese** · 11-09-2009, 06:03 AM

Originally Posted by tnthub

First generation SATA only supported 1.5G speeds. Many drives have a different jumper setting to to slow them down to 1.5G transfer speeds to work on older systems... The transfer rate of the drive needs to be matched to the transfer rate of your controller (on your system board), in order for the hard drive to work in your system.

hogwash.. i have installed many many many new 3.0 drives on only PCs that only support 1.5. the new 3.0 drives are fully backwards compatable 99% of the time.

**tnthub** · 11-09-2009, 06:40 AM

Originally Posted by krese

hogwash.. i have installed many many many new 3.0 drives on only PCs that only support 1.5. the new 3.0 drives are fully backwards compatable 99% of the time.

The Intel PERL was a very popular P4 board used by many different clone vendors but it only supports the slower speed. Sata drives have a jumper to match the drive transfer speed to the slower setting. On the Intel PERL is absolutely needs to be matched...

I was only stating what I have seen before determining positively beyond all doubt that something is pooched.