Replacing laptop hard drive

sw33t_r3v3ng3

I want to replace the hard drive on my laptop. My laptop is an ASUS X551CA and the hard drive that came with it is a HTB-TT5SAE500(B). It is only a 500GB drive which i have already filled and need more space as im beginning to get into video editing and do some programming and song production aswell. I know the specs arent the best but this will have to do for now. I have a few questions:
1) Do i have to get a drive with the same RPM? My one now is 5400RPM
2) Does it have to be the same manufacturer as the last one?
3) Is there a max size certain motherboards can take?
4) Can i fit SSD instead of HDD?
5) Is it worth upgrading from HDD to SSD?
6) What is cache storage?
7) What size should it be?
8) Can you recommend any hard drive to replace the old one?

Thanks all in advance!

Serephucus

1) Nope.
2) Nope.
3) Nope, just as long as it's 9.5mm thick. The only ones that are thicker are the 1.5 and 2.0TB ones.
4) Yes.
5) **** yes.
6) Similar to RAM, or cache on a CPU. Stores currently accessed data for fast retrieval.
7) If you're referring to cache, it doesn't really matter.
8) Depends. If you want an SSD: Crucial MX100, or BX100 if you can find it/it's cheaper. If HDD, WD Blue.

Notes:
Get an SSD.

sw33t_r3v3ng3

I was hoping to get either a 1TB or 1.5TB drive. Would that size fit in?

Serephucus

Hm, looks like hard drives have gotten a bit bigger recently:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-9-5mm-Internal-Drive-Compatible/dp/B00I8O6OQ4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1421451558&sr=8-1&keywords=samsung+m9t

the_syco

Serephucus wrote: »

8) Depends. If you want an SSD: Crucial MX100, or BX100 if you can find it/it's cheaper. If HDD, WD Blue.

Notes:
Get an SSD.

Agreed with the above. Crucial MX100 512GB is €209. It's also the cheapest in the 480GB-512GB range.

Also, no moving parts in the SSD, so longer battery life, and quicker boot times. Although you'll get more space with a normal HDD, you'll get better performance with an SSD.

WARNING; if you do get an SSD, you'll never use a HDD again as your main drive (although HDD's are good for storage). Get the largest your budget can take.

Finally, does your laptop have a DVD drive, and do you use it? Like, do you use it much? I ask as you can get caddies that allow you to put your HDD into where you DVD drive goes.

sw33t_r3v3ng3

the_syco wrote: »

Agreed with the above. Crucial MX100 512GB is €209. It's also the cheapest in the 480GB-512GB range.

Also, no moving parts in the SSD, so longer battery life, and quicker boot times. Although you'll get more space with a normal HDD, you'll get better performance with an SSD.

WARNING; if you do get an SSD, you'll never use a HDD again as your main drive (although HDD's are good for storage). Get the largest your budget can take.

Finally, does your laptop have a DVD drive, and do you use it? Like, do you use it much? I ask as you can get caddies that allow you to put your HDD into where you DVD drive goes.

I very rarely use my DVD drive most things are available to watch online anyway so theres really no need for one. The only thing id use it for would be to boot to another OS which can be done by USB anyway or to burn ISO files to DVD.