What is a Laptop Hard Drive?

The laptop hard drive is a small hard disk drive that is especially designed for portable computers. The laptop hard drive is also called a notebook or mobile drive. There are two common sizes of hard drives for notebooks, the more popular 2.5 inch drive and the much smaller 1.8 inch. The 1.8 inch drive is often used in the ultra-portable notebooks.

The mobile hard drive differs from the desktop hard disk drive in many ways:

• It is better at withstanding vibration and shock.
• It uses less power.
• It makes less noise.
• It is smaller.

The notebook computer is often moved while the hard drive is spinning. To prevent drive failure, the notebook drive is built to better withstand this movement. As a result, the mobile hard drive is also much better at withstanding vibration and shock than the desktop computer hard drive. For example, the average notebook drive can survive a 200G shock but the average desktop drive can only withstand a 100G shock.

Lower power requirements are critical for portable computer devices. A 2.5 inch drive uses about 2 watts compared to 10 watts for a 3.5 inch hard drive. The lower power usage also means that less heat is generated, which is also a plus for the portable. But best of all, using less power makes your battery last longer.

Notebook drives are also designed to run quieter. There is nothing more annoying than the high pitched whine of a noisy drive. This noise is made worse on a notebook because you have to sit closer to the drive. One way that mobile drives are made quieter is by running them at a lower RPM. But that is not all, other engineering techniques to the spindle and actuator arms are used to quiet the drive.

The nominal exterior size of the most common 2.5 mobile hard drive is .37" x 2.75" x 3.94". The most significant measurement in these dimensions is the thickness, because it is most likely to vary and cause you problems when installing a new laptop hard drive. The thickness can be also expressed in millimeters (mm). The most common thicknesses are 12.5mm, 9.5mm, and 8.5mm; this translates to .49 in, .37in, and .33in. If your drive bay will only hold a 9.5mm drive, be careful not to purchase a 12.5mm drive!

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