Info about some quiet notebook hard drives.

sclawson · Post by **sclawson** » Mon Feb 24, 2003 4:30 pm

I've been retrofitting some older notebooks with new, quieter hard drives, and thought some of you might benefit from what I've learned. My apologies if I've only "rediscovered" things that are already common knowledge.

In my experience, the quietest notebook hard drive BY FAR is the Fujitsu like of FDB (fluid dynamic bearing) 9.5mm drives. The current models are MHS2020AT, MHS2030AT, MHS2040AT, and MHS2060AT, where the last two numbers in the part number refer to capacity (20GB, 30GB, 40GB, and 60GB, respectively, in these examples). These little puppies are rated at 24dBA at 30cm, and when considering that the notebook chassis itself will muffle a little sound, the drives may well be inaudible at idle. I've been using an older generation of Fujitsu FDB drive for many months in my Sony SR17K notebook, and the only sound I hear is during seeks, with even that being a pleasant, muffled sound kind of like a gentle swishing. These drives rock!

Another drive worth mentioning (that I've got on order but haven't yet received) is the Toshiba HDD2171, also known as MK4019GAX. This drive is a little louder than the Fujitsu -- if memory serves, the Toshiba runs around 28dBA -- but it's a 40GB 5400MB drive with FDB, and most impressively, it features a 16MB cache buffer! Most notebook drives incorporate only a 2MB buffer, so this Toshiba might be a great solution for higher performance needs without increasing the noise too much. At least that's what I hope; I'm planning on installing this drive in a 366MHz Pentium II notebook that I leave running 24/7 as a Linux server in my home office. (IBM Thinkpad 570... only draws 15W of AC power, and by definition includes a built-in UPS!)

Here is a product link for the Fujitsu drives:
http://www.fcpa.fujitsu.com/products/ha ... tions.html

And here is a link for the Toshiba drive.

Anyway, maybe this information can help someone. I've been a member of this site as well as the Yahoo! Groups Silent-PC list for quite a while, and haven't seen all that much in the way as silencing options for notebooks. These drives could make a big difference!

DaveSimmons · Post by **DaveSimmons** » Mon Feb 24, 2003 7:52 pm

Thanks! the HD in my thinkpad 240 is making disturbing retry noises fairly often now so I'll probably be replacing it soon.

TheMuffinMan · Post by **TheMuffinMan** » Thu Feb 27, 2003 4:56 pm

I have a Fujitsu HDD in my PowerBook...very very quiet compared to the old IBM that was in there.

DarkLord · Post by **DarkLord** » Tue Apr 22, 2003 8:57 am

Thanks sclawson for the info!

If you're still around could you comment on the actual noise 8and performance) of the Toshiba MK4019GAX?
I'd be interested in the 60GB Version too, but i guess that one would be hotter & louder...

So any more info on the 40GB 5400rpm drive would be highly appreciated!

sclawson · Post by **sclawson** » Tue Apr 22, 2003 10:12 am

I've been using the Toshiba MK4019GAX in my IBM Thinkpad 570 for nearly two months. As stated in my original post, I am indeed using this computer as a low-power, 24/7 server in my home office network, tucked within a cabinet. I haven't done any rigorous performance testing on the drive and lack the equipment to do rigorous sound level testing, but casually speaking, the drive has mildly exceeded my expectations on both counts.

Performance-wise, it makes this aging notebook's disk accesses feel like those on a recent machine. (This has had the unintended side effect of accentuating the sluggishness of the CPU itself since there is no longer as much hard drive sluggishness in the mix!) Even on this 366MHz notebook, the Toshiba drive is clearly faster than my Fujitsu hard drive in my 1GHz Sony Vaio notebook.

In terms of noise, the drive is audible at idle but only when sitting at the notebook working, and even then the drive is very soft and (to my ear at least) easily bearable. It's not silent like the Fujitsu hard drives, but is still really quiet. (Similar relationship to Pabst [silent] vs. Panaflo 12L [not silent but really quiet, plus higher performance] case fans.) Seeks are clearly audible but muffled by the notebook's case, resulting in a soft swishing sound with an occasional soft click.

To summarize, the Toshiba MK4019GAX compared to one of the Fujitsu notebook hard drives I mentioned in my original posts is noticeably faster, a bit louder (silent vs. below whisper volume), and roughly equally cool in temperature. The Toshiba MK4019GAX compared to the stock IBM hard drive that shipped in the ThinkPad 570 (6GB but forgot which model) is a little higher performance, outrageously quieter (torture-caliber high-pitched whine vs. below whisper volume), and noticeable cooler.

If I had to buy another drive today and wanted the quietest thing going, I would spring for a Fujitsu hard drive. On the other hand, if I wanted to get 95% of the way to silent and have above-average performance in my notebook, I would buy the Toshiba.

Hope this helps, DarkLord and anyone else.

--Scott

sclawson · Post by **sclawson** » Tue Apr 22, 2003 10:21 am

Please excuse my laziness today. When I did the Pabst vs. Panaflo analogy, I might have bungled the model number for the Panaflo. Suffice to say that I meant to compare the fan models in those two brands that we all generally consider the "quiet" ones. (12L? L1A? hmm...)

The analogy was meant to be Fujitsu vs. Toshiba notebook hard drives being somewhat like Pabst vs. Panaflo 80mm case fans.

--Scott

DarkLord · Post by **DarkLord** » Tue Apr 22, 2003 1:02 pm

Thanks a lot. You've done me quite a favour, since it's actually pretty hard to find any information at all on current 5400rpm 2.5" drives, their performance (compared to 4200rpm drives) and especially their noise emission. So I'm glad you could give such valuable information on this topic.

I guess nobody on the net is actually *really* interested in reviewing such drives - which surprises me, since more and more people are buying or building so called "gaming-notebooks".. mmmmh whatever

thanks.

henke · Post by **henke** » Thu Apr 24, 2003 7:13 am

Thanks for the info sclawson

I got the Fujitsu MHS2030AT 30 GB drive and man is it quiet compared to the old IBM OEM drive I was using

The drive is sitting on my desk (The lunchbox/mini-itx case I ordered hasn't arrived yet) one meter from my head and the idle nosise is drowned out by the background ventilation noise. The drive makes some chirping noises when seeking but it hasn't started to bother me yet...

I've finally reached a point where I don't feel the need to quiet my system anymore

It would be interesting to see how a Fujitsu laptop drive compares to a Barracuda V

sclawson · Post by **sclawson** » Thu Apr 24, 2003 7:37 am

It would be interesting to see how a Fujitsu laptop drive compares to a Barracuda V

That is an interesting question. I have the Fujitsu drive plus a Barracuda IV, which is reportedly around the same noise level as the Barracuda V, but I've never really listened to them head-to-head.

My hunch is that the Barracuda V properly decoupled from the case using an elastic suspension would be about equally quiet as the Fujitsu laptop drive, both of which would be almost silent.

On the other hand, a Barracuda V bolted directly into one of the hard drive bays in the case (without the elastic suspension) would be significantly louder than the Fujitsu laptop drive, mainly because the Barracuda V generates a substantial amount of vibrational noise that would pass through the case, whereas the Fujitsu laptop drive probably doesn't generate much vibrational noise at all.

Of course, an actual experiment is always preferable to someone's hunch! If anyone does this particular experiment, please report back to us on your results!

--Scott

Justin_R · Post by **Justin_R** » Mon May 19, 2003 9:07 pm

Has anyone that has used either the Fujitsu or Toshiba drives mentioned here also used an IBM/Hitachi 40GNX? I just purchased one of the latter for my sister's Powerbook (of which I am the "sysadmin"

), and it is quieter than the IBM 12GN it replaced and the Toshiba MK1214GAP in my Powerbook, but I wonder how it compares to these other drives. FWIW, the 40GNX is specified at 2.5 bels (A-weighting). It's also got an 8MB cache, and is pretty cheap, which is the whole story of why I selected it.

Edit:

sclawson-
Could you hide that link to the Toshiba drives so it doesn't make the
window super-wide? Just write this (make sure it's on one line):

Code: Select all

[url=http://big.long.url.blahblahblah]Toshiba drives![/url]

and get this:
Toshiba drives!
Thanks!

EDIT BY MIKEC: That wide link was driving me nuts too! I fixed it.

sclawson · Post by **sclawson** » Tue May 20, 2003 12:03 am

Justin, my newest IBM ThinkPad has a Hitachi drive in it, although I don't recall exactly which model. Very subjectively, it sounds roughly equal to the Fujitsu drive in my Soni Vaio; I'd probably end up choosing one or the other (if buying again) based on other concerns such as price, longevity, brand reputation, etc. That 8MB buffer sure sounds nice, though!

BTW, thanks to Mike C. for doing some spot repairs on the overly long link in my original post. I didn't think about its length causing problems at the time, and later it never occurred to me that it was the problem with the overly wide messages. Learned something new -- thanks!

Athlon Powers · Post by **Athlon Powers** » Tue May 20, 2003 8:49 am

Very useful indeed! The Hitachi whine in my notebook is getting at my nerves, I like the looks of the Fujitsu...

michaelb · Post by **michaelb** » Wed Nov 05, 2003 7:31 pm

Athlon Powers wrote:Very useful indeed! The Hitachi whine in my notebook is getting at my nerves, I like the looks of the Fujitsu...

Which Hitachi model?

I'm about to buy the Hitachi 5K80, which I'm expecting to be extremely quiet.

Does anyone have experience with this drive?

(Other than Al Bundy who finds it quiet:
Look For 5k80 )

Above, sclawson mentions a quiet Hitachi in a new IBM notebook, this may be the 5K80; I've read that IBM and Apple are using the drive. (Among other drives.)

The manufacturer's specs are very good, and it seems to be the replacement for the IBM/Hitachi 40GNX, which most but not all people say is very quiet.

The Toshiba is more $, and I've read a complaint or 2 about noise, and it not being faster than small cache drives. Here's the only link I saved: review

Because the 40gb is only about 20% more $ than the 20gb, I'll get the 40. Any bigger is also louder.

Here's some mfr specs I collected:

5K80, 80/60/40/20 GB Bels:
(20gb is 08K0636)
Idle (typical) 2.5/2.5/2.1/2.1
Op (typical) 2.9/2.9/2.6/2.6
Idle (maximum) 2.7/2.7/2.4/2.4
Op (maximum) 3.1/3.1/2.8/2.8

Max.media xfer
rate(Mbits/sec) 450

40GNX 07N9481 Bels:
Idle (typical) 2.5
Op (typical) 3.1
Idle (maximum) 2.7
Op (maximum) 3.3

Max.media xfer
rate(Mbits/sec) 297

Both drives have spec of 5400, 8mb cache, latency 5.5 ms, as well as several other identical specs.

The MHS2020AT Fujitsu--I could only find 24 dBA at 30 cm for noise specs, and it's a 4200 drive.

There's also a Seagate, but I think they're new to laptop drives, and it has only 2mb cache.

morganw · Post by **morganw** » Thu Nov 06, 2003 12:26 pm

michaelb wrote:There's also a Seagate, but I think they're new to laptop drives, and it has only 2mb cache.

Actually, the two sizes of Momentus series 2.5" drives, 20 and 40GB, are available with either 2MB or 8MB of cache, though a lot of dealers only have the 2MB.

From http://www.seagate.com/cda/products/dis ... 96,00.html the HTML datasheet
ST92011A Momentus 20 GB Ultra ATA/100 5400 rpm 12 ms avg notebook
ST92811A Momentus 20 GB Ultra ATA/100 5400 rpm 12 ms avg notebook
ST94011A Momentus 40 GB Ultra ATA/100 5400 rpm 12 ms avg notebook
ST94811A Momentus 40 GB Ultra ATA/100 5400 rpm 12 ms avg notebook

Shadowknight · Post by **Shadowknight** » Thu Nov 06, 2003 2:42 pm

So... Anyone know of any 7200 RPM drives that are quiet? I've been considering getting a laptop in the near future, and I would prefer good hard-drive performance...

michaelb · Post by **michaelb** » Thu Nov 06, 2003 9:41 pm

morganw wrote:Actually, the two sizes of Momentus series 2.5" drives, 20 and 40GB, are available with either 2MB or 8MB of cache, though a lot of dealers only have the 2MB.

Thanks, hadn't realized.

The noise spec is a bit higher than the 5K80, 2.3 instead of 2.1 at idle.

Shadowknight wrote:So... Anyone know of any 7200 RPM drives that are quiet? I've been considering getting a laptop in the near future, and I would prefer good hard-drive performance...

When I was checking, I think the only one I saw was the Hitachi 7k60, which is expensive and doesn't look too quiet:
Idle (typical) 2.7
Op (typical) 3.3
Idle (maximum) 3.0
Op (maximum) 3.5
http://www.hgst.com/hdd/support/7k60/7k60.htm

sclawson · Post by **sclawson** » Fri Nov 07, 2003 11:29 am

Speaking purely conceptually, it's going to be more difficult for drive makers to silence a 7200 RPM notebook drive (as opposed to the larger desktop drives) simply because there isn't nearly as much room for damping material, case stabilization, etc. Plus, the typical notebook mounts the drive within a few millimeters of the surface, and there's no room for elastic decoupling and the like. But who knows? Hopefully competitive demands will lead someone to lick these issues at 7200 RPM soon.

An ongoing source of frustration for me personally is the lack of performance notebook drives have always provided. Compared even to an average desktop drive, they just stink, and always have. Maybe a HUGE cache would minimize the differences? I want it all! silent notebook drive with speedy performance.

wsc · Post by **wsc** » Fri Nov 07, 2003 6:07 pm

Very glad to see someone addressing this topic! The drive in my P3 1ghz laptop is disturbingly loud - sounds like a small turbine engine. Not to mention, it's only 20GB, which just isn't nearly enough.

Great info, thanks guys

michaelb · Post by **michaelb** » Sun Nov 09, 2003 12:18 am

Found the other complaint about Toshiba GAX noise.
(Not to contradict the original poster; each sample can be different, as well as each installation)
http://www.barefeats.com/hard34.html

That review also says the 7200 Hitachi isn't too very loud. (Noise is discussed near the end of the review)

Wish I could hear before purchasing, considering the restrictive return policies.
Or at least compare the specs across drives...
Fujitsu 24 dBA at 30 cm
VS.
5K80 2.1 A-Weighted Sound Power (Bels)

can those two be compared?

sclawson · Post by **sclawson** » Sun Nov 09, 2003 8:22 am

michaelb, the short answer is yes, bels and dB can be compared (converted), at least somewhat. The thing I don't know if whether bels are "A" weighted, as in dBA. If not, the comparison won't make much sense. The "A" weighting puts more emphasis on sounds that humans can easily hear and less on sounds they can't, so something with higher bels might still sound quieter than something with lower bels.

I'm too lazy at the moment to lookup the conversion, but if I find it I'll post again with the formula. In the meantime, you might want to try a quick search on Google, and please share whatever you find out!

sclawson · Post by **sclawson** » Sun Nov 09, 2003 8:32 am

Ah! Found it!

It's actually very simple. Decibels are simply 10 times bels. So 2.1 bels means 21 dB.

There are still some problems. As I suspected, this doesn't take "A" weighting into account, so a high bels rating could still sound quiet if most of the noise is in the "inaudible" (in other words, hard for humans to hear) range, and a low bels rating could still sound noisy if most of the noise is in the "audible" range.

Another question mark involves the way the measurement was taken. If memory serves, decibels fall off by 3dB with a doubling of distance from the noise source. So taking the Fujitsu 24dBA drive mentioned earlier in the thread, the reading was taken at 30cm. If we double the distance to 60cm, the noise would become 21dBA. If we double it again to 120cm (in other words, a 1.2 meters), the noise would become 18dBA. That's why I love my Fujitsu drive! 18dBA is pretty darned quiet.

If the manufacturer doesn't say anything about the distance used to measure bels, we have no idea how far away the reading was taken, and that can make a BIG difference. What if one manufacturer took their reading at 1 meter, and the other took it at 1cm? An extreme example, but hopefully it demonstrates my point.

Still, at least we've got a simplistic way to make sense of the technical data, even if some big questions remain.

michaelb · Post by **michaelb** » Sun Nov 09, 2003 10:53 am

MikeC's article
http://www.silentpcreview.com/goto.php?t=s&id=121&a=1
has a link to
http://www.silent.se/iso-9296.php
which says that
"Not possible to convert between B and dB
A decibel is a tenth of a bel: 1 B = 10 dB. While possible to convert between bel and decibel, is it not possible to convert between sound power level and sound pressure level."
and
"...sound pressure level figures always become lower than the sound power level figures..."
I'm too confused to tell if this means that 24 dBA at 30 cm is actually louder than 2.1 A-Weighted Sound Power (Bels)?

I think the power level includes sound power in all directions, as opposed to pressure at one point, but this is not my area of expertise

Haven't found the 7779 standard distance for measuring power (looks like the ISO standard isn't free on the net) but it might not matter.
I'll post the 5K80 methodology separately.

sclawson wrote:my newest IBM ThinkPad has a Hitachi drive in it, although I don't recall exactly which model. Very subjectively, it sounds roughly equal to the Fujitsu drive

Could you see which Hitachi that is?
On my Windows 2000 Thinkpad, I can go into Programs-Accessories-System Tools-System Information-Components folder-Storage folder-Drives folder and see the "Drive Model" of my hard drive.

michaelb · Post by **michaelb** » Sun Nov 09, 2003 10:56 am

From the 5K80 document on Hitachi website, T5K80_sp2.0.pdf:

6.6.1 Sound power levels
The criteria of A-weighted sound power level are described below.
Measurements are to be taken in accordance with ISO 7779. The mean of the sample of 40 drives is to be less than
the typical value. Each drive is to be less than the maximum value. The drives are to meet this requirement in both
board down orientations.
The background power levels of the acoustic test chamber for each octave band are to be recorded.
Sound power tests are to be conducted with the drive supported by spacers so that the lower surface of the drive be
located 25±3 mm above from the chamber floor. No sound absorbing material shall be used.
The acoustical characteristics of the disk drive are measured under the following conditions:
Mode definitions
• Idle mode: Power on, disks spinning, track following, unit ready to receive and respond to control line commands.
• Operating mode: Continuous random cylinder selection and seek operation of the actuator with a dwell
time at each cylinder. The seek rate for the drive is calculated with the following formula:
Ns= 0.4/(Tt + T1)
where:
Ns = average seek rate in seeks/s
Tt = published seek time from one random track to another without including rotational latency
T1= equivalent time in seconds for the drive to rotate by half a revolution
6.6.2 Discrete tone penalty
Discrete tone penalties are added to the A-weighted sound power (Lw) with the following formula only when
determining compliance.
Lwt(spec) = Lw = 0.1Pt + 0.3 < 4.0 (Bels)
where
Lw = A-weighted sound power level
Pt = Value of desecrate tone penalty = dLt – 6.0(dBA)
dLt = Tone-to-noise ratio taken in accordance with ISO 7779 at each octave band
Table 23: Weighted sound power
A-weighted sound power
Typical (Bels) Maximum (Bels)
80GB, 60GB models
Idle 2.5 2.7
Operating 2.9 3.1
40GB, 30GB, 20GB
models
Idle 2.1 2.4
Operating 2.6 2.8

sclawson · Post by **sclawson** » Mon Nov 10, 2003 8:34 am

michaelb wrote:
sclawson wrote:my newest IBM ThinkPad has a Hitachi drive in it, although I don't recall exactly which model. Very subjectively, it sounds roughly equal to the Fujitsu drive
Could you see which Hitachi that is?

michaelb, thanks for the Windows info about looking up my drive's model, but I'm running RH9 on this particular laptop. Happily, though, a quick trip to Red Hat's hardware browser applet gave me the info.

The drive is a Hitachi DK23DA with capacity of 20GB.

I also happened upon a mini review of the drive over here. They note that it uses fluid dynamic bearings (FDB), which explains the quiet operation, although they do say the noise level is 3.1 bels.

For what it's worth, I can tell you firsthand that in my Thinkpad at least, 3.1 bels is very quiet. The reviewers in that article seem to agree... they specifically said they couldn't hear the drive in operation. I'd take that with a grain of salt, but at least you can know that it's a definite improvement on any ball bearing drive out there, and a worthy upgrade!

Meanwhile, the Fujitsu drive in my other laptop is still chugging away quietly. I'm happy with both.

michaelb · Post by **michaelb** » Mon Nov 10, 2003 11:40 am

sclawson wrote:Happily, though, a quick trip to Red Hat's hardware browser applet gave me the info.

The drive is a Hitachi DK23DA with capacity of 20GB.

....

For what it's worth, I can tell you firsthand that in my Thinkpad at least, 3.1 bels is very quiet.

Thanks much for posting the drive model.

The 5K80 I plan to buy ought to be even quiter...
Guess I'm pretty comfortable with the apparent price, noise, and performance.
Will order soon as my new 2.5" enclosure comes in for the old drive (unless someone posts convincing conflicting advice

)
And plan to post results when have new drive in use.

sclawson · Post by **sclawson** » Mon Nov 10, 2003 12:20 pm

michaelb, good luck to you! And please pass along your impressions about the new drive once you get it. This thread has sort of become the de facto source of info on quiet notebook drives, and your experiences added to it would be valuable.

Where'd you order your 2.5 inch enclosure from? I need one myself...

michaelb · Post by **michaelb** » Mon Nov 10, 2003 12:40 pm

Well, I have an embarassingly old (and horrifically loud) 17mm drive, so I had to order an enclosure that would fit it:

http://www.okgear.com/OK250-1.htm
$21 shipped, tall enclosure

I emailed mfr to be sure 17mm fits, they say no problem.

EDIT: just came in, and it looks like it would fit a 12mm, but not 17mm. Guess I'll be using it with the cover off.

If you have a 9.5mm drive, there are smaller and cheaper enclosures. I've seen many on ebay from 2 different vendors, both charging something like .99 for the drive and $12 for shipping&handling.

vendor1

vendor2

Note that each of these vendors have many of these enclosures on ebay.
I know nothing about the quality, but you can see feedback ratings.

I've also seen others on pricewatch.com and froogle.com searching for 2.5 enclosure.

If your drive is fast enough, it might matter if you get an enclosure with fast chips, and supporting usb 2 or firewire.[/url]

sclawson · Post by **sclawson** » Mon Nov 10, 2003 12:54 pm

Thanks michaelb!

michaelb · Post by **michaelb** » Thu Nov 20, 2003 3:12 pm

OK, I've had the Hitachi 5K80 in the Thinkpad for several days now.

To my ear, it seems about 5%-10% of the volume of my old, awful drive.

For the most part, it is quiet enough for me, but it is still quite audible.

If the room is quiet, I can hear the idle rotation of the drive. Even with lots of background noise, I can easily hear it if I put my head near the (installed) drive.

I can hear the seek/write noise easily if the room is quiet, and may or may not with lots of background noise.

(My fan almost never runs, because I have a PII266, and leave the battery and cd bays empty. I had kind of hoped for a nearly-silent laptop with the new drive...

The drive occasionally clicks when not in use. This is not normally a problem (for me, anyway) but a few days ago, it was rat-a-tat-ing like a fast drumline, driving me a little nuts.
I was in Word, so saved my document which shut it up for a moment, but it would start back up again in several seconds. This repeated several times, I don't remember how I finally got the noise to stop, probably luck.

So, I installed the feature tool, and set it to the quietest level.
I can't seem to notice any difference in noise... but haven't done good a/b tests in a quiet environment. The room was noisy when I changed the setting too.

The rat-a-tat hasn't repeated yet, hopefully that's just a very occasional thing the drive does to stay in shape

(I really don't think it was page swapping, there were low system demands at the time, and saving stopped it for at least three seconds after the save was complete. Also, it was louder than normal seeking or writing, such as when making an image of a drive or running the feature tool tests.)

There's also a power saving setting to experiment with, perhaps it would change the noises of switching between idle modes.

I was surprised to see the temperature in the mid 40's after light use, and after just a few minutes of testing, hit 50. I guess I should run the test for 10 minutes or more, to be sure it doesnt hit 60.
The wattage ratings of this drive are almost identical to the original drive, which spun at 4900 (it was a top of line before 5400).
Maybe it gets hotter because it is smaller, and there is now air in the drive caddy, insulating the drive.

I wonder if I can make the drive quieter, and cooler, but filling the airspace with a 7.5 mm thick piece of printer's carving rubber, with a section cut out for the "do not cover" drive hole.
The rubber might help conduct heat from the drive to the caddy, and then the computer case. And it could absorb some noise.
http://forums.silentpcreview.com/viewtopic.php?t=2946
If the rubber fits tightly, it would probably work best for heat&noise, but the drive does say "do not press"

mjrpes · Post by **mjrpes** » Fri Feb 27, 2004 9:09 pm

this is a good thread. i thought i could find more information in the hard drive forum by doing a search for "quiet" and "laptop", but this is about the only good thread i could find. i must be looking for the wrong thing.

anyway...

i'd like to contribute by saying i bought a seagate 5400rpm 40gig 2.5in harddrive (ST94011A), believing seagate's quality as a quiet 3.5in hdd vender would translate to 2.5in, but was dismayed to find the drive emitted a high pitch whine that made it unusable as a quiet alternative (although it was much quieter than the IBM 8.0gig it replaced).

so i did a search here, found this thread, and am hoping my recent purchase of a fujitsu will turn out well