General Lee Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 Hello. I've had a Sony Vaio laptop for quite a bit. Just a couple of days ago, it started to give me an error. The error was: "Operating system not found". I read about it online and contacted Sony as well. Sony told me it was a hard drive failure. I needed a replacement hard drive. I asked for the part number. The part number that I was given is A1811344A. After searching that part number, I saw the prices. $400 for a hard drive replacement is outrageous and of course I wouldn't pay that. I'd rather buy a new laptop. So, I proceeded to open the case and take out the hard drive and note the hard drive details. They are: Hitachi 5K750-500 HTS547550A9E384. I searched for this particular hard drive. I have seen it for $60. That is reasonable. However, this is where I got confused. Why is the so-called "official" replacement part $400? Does it come with something extra that is needed? Would the $60 one not come with the metal support needed to screw it in or attach it in? Could someone please provide some information regarding this? I'd greatly appreciate it. Thank you. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Israeli_Eagle Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 You can for sure buy the $60 version and need nothing more, you can use the same screws again.Actually you could also buy any other harddisk, it only has to be 2.5" and SATA2. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johndoe Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 this one should be a perfect replacement (assuming ur in the US/Canada). it's the same capacity as the one that died, i.e., 500GB. In addition to that, it spins at 7200 rpm whereas the dead one was 5400 rpm so you get better performance. In addition, this one has a 16MB cache/buffer as opposed to 8MB on the dead one so again, better performance. I would personally never go within 10 feet of a Hitachi and this is a Western Digital Scorpio Black so it's all good! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calguyhunk Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 @ General Lee - Absolutely no need to get that HDD from Sony. OEM's always price components exorbitantly to lure the unassuming to buy all new products. Cell-Phone makers (Batteries, Headphones etc.) and other major gadget/Appliance manufacturers do it as well. :(Just get a laptop HDD from the open market - either your local Mom & Pop store if they match online prices (most do these days) or order online from Newegg, Tigerdirect, Fry's, Amazon etc. Or get one from Microcenter if you happen to have one nearby ;)@ Johndoe - 7200 RPM ones consume a bit more power than the 5400 RPM ones for obvious reasons, but running a 7200 rpm 2.5" notebook drive does put less strain on drive components than it does on a 3.5" desktop drive. 5400 rpm drives are engineered to save power and cut down on heat dissipation. You want better battery life and cheaper and lighter hardware (weight wise, they have smaller and thinner Cu heatsinks), get 5400 rpm. You want slightly faster loading times and faster random access time, (sequentials will prolly be the same if not identical), get a 7200 rpm drive. :)Rule of the thumb - 7200 RPM for desktops (If not the 10,000 RPM velociraptors) and 5400 RPM for lappys) :) If you can afford it, SSD's are always an option as well ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LiLmEgZ Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 Why not just replace it with a SSD drive if Sony wanted you to pay $400? A decent sized SSD doesnt cost too much now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Israeli_Eagle Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 Why not just replace it with a SSD drive if Sony wanted you to pay $400? A decent sized SSD doesnt cost too much now. Come on... SSD costs still too much! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator DKT27 Posted October 17, 2012 Administrator Share Posted October 17, 2012 Come on... SSD costs still too much! You can still get a 500GB SSD few dollars cheaper than Sony's $400 HDD. :uhoh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johndoe Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 Why not just replace it with a SSD drive if Sony wanted you to pay $400? A decent sized SSD doesnt cost too much now. Come on... SSD costs still too much!granted SSDs are more expensive than HDDs but they're down to about $1/GB nowadays which is quite good actually, especially for laptop users since they consume less power hence longer battery life Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calguyhunk Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 I saw the prices. $400 for a hard drive replacement Why is the so-called "official" replacement part $400? Does it come with something extra that is needed? Yeah it does. It comes with an optional $350 Sony tax if you're willing to pay :hehe: You can still get a 500GB SSD few dollars cheaper than Sony's $400 HDD. :uhoh: He can get an entire full sized lappy for less than that LOL! :lmao: 512 GB Crucial M4 SSDs are more expensive than HDDs but they're down to about $1/GB nowadays ... Less than that. See above link :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Lee Posted October 17, 2012 Author Share Posted October 17, 2012 Thank you all for the replies. They have been very helpful. I'll order the $60 one and see how that works. As I said before, $400 is outrageous and I really would rather buy a new laptop. Seeing as how an SSD is of the same price range; that isn't something I want. A regular HDD will do just fine. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator DKT27 Posted October 17, 2012 Administrator Share Posted October 17, 2012 Thank you all for the replies. They have been very helpful. I'll order the $60 one and see how that works. As I said before, $400 is outrageous and I really would rather buy a new laptop. Seeing as how an SSD is of the same price range; that isn't something I want. A regular HDD will do just fine. :) At the moment, it is rare to see people using only SSD based system, cause they are expensive. Hence, lots of them buy SSD just 60GB or 128GB, only for their main system drive. This way you can use HDD to store normal data, and keep SSD for system and stuff that need speed. All this cause SSD is way more faster than HDD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johndoe Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 All this cause SSD is way more faster than HDD.and consumes less power hence generates less heat, plus no moving parts inside at all so lower risk of failure due to shock/trauma ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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