Buying a 120 GB Internal Hard Drive For Your Laptop
Seagate makes many internal hard disk drives for your laptop use. These include hard drive options that can handle 120 GB of space. But you must be cautious when finding an internal drive for your use. Several points must be put into consideration.
What Is the Form Factor?
The form factor is the basic physical size of the internal hard drive. Although 3.5-inch models are typically used, some newer 2.5-inch choices are available.
Review the Interface
A Serial Advanced Technology Attachment or SATA interface should be included in your internal hard drive. This interface runs with many intentions in mind:
- Thin Design - The cables on a SATA setup are thinner and easier to install inside a laptop.
- Fast Transfer - The signaling rate on the hard drive is greater, thus allowing you to transfer data quickly. This is certainly the case for a SATA III drive that operates at 6 Gbps.
- Less Energy - Your SATA drive will have a signal voltage of about 250 millivolts on average. The voltage is less than the 5V average on a basic PATA hard disk drive.
- NCQ - Native Command Queuing or NCQ helps you optimize how read and write commands are ordered.
What Is the RPM?
The revolutions per minute or RPM in the 120 GB storage drive refers to how fast the drive operates. When the platters on the drive spin faster, it becomes easier for the drive to find information. You can find internal hard drive choices with 5400 or 7200 RPM totals.
A hard disk with more RPM has a shorter average latency. The latency is a measure of how long it takes for a disk to bring the proper sector under the reading head. It should take just a few milliseconds for your HDD to read something.
What Is the MB Cache?
Review the MB cache on the 120 GB internal hard drive you wish to use. The MB cache is a measure of how much data can be stored in a drive so it can be read. A 120 GB model should come with a cache at 16 MB or greater.
What Types of Models Are Available?
You have many choices to find when getting a 120 GB internal hard drive from Seagate:
- Momentus - The Seagate Momentus places data bits at the end of each HDD platter, thus allowing for more data to be read at a time.
- IronWolf - The Seagate IronWolf uses rotational vibration to keep the physical body of the internal drive secure.
- Barracuda - Designed with home use in mind, the Seagate Barracuda is a 2.5-inch unit that is 7 mm thin.
- FireCuda - Flash memory is utilized here. The FireCuda uses flash memory to load content through an electronic interface.
Be sure when getting a hard drive that you find a choice that works on your computer. Check on how well your computer is laid out and that it can handle the option you want to utilize.