How fragile is a HDD inside a laptop

A

Alir

Silver Level Poster
I am probably going to purchase http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/notebooks/lafite/

I am deciding upon the different HDDs for storage - or an SSD since I might not actually end up putting that many files on here - just for work, media, etc. But I still would like to consider a HDD if they are fairly robust and designed to withstand shock - considering how much HDDs have matured over the years.

My main concern is damage to the HDD if I move or apply some light shock to the laptop. How fragile are HDDs? How hard would I have to shock the laptop for the HDD to get damaged?

From my understanding of HDDs, damaged is caused when the read/write header comes into contact or scratches the platter. Is this correct? If so, I'd imagine the platter gets damaged pretty easily. Am I correct?

Deciding between the 5200RPM HDD and the 7200RPM HDD, would the 7200 be more fragile and more likely to get damaged than the 5200 because it's spinning faster? Or does the speed of the platter not matter?

Also, how much louder would the 7200 HDD be?
I would like the laptop to be as quiet as possible.

Note: I am not talking about dropping the laptop, I mean through general bumps and shocks.
 
ubuysa

ubuysa

The BSOD Doctor
Alir said:
I am probably going to purchase http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/notebooks/lafite/

I am deciding upon the different HDDs for storage - or an SSD since I might not actually end up putting that many files on here - just for work, media, etc. But I still would like to consider a HDD if they are fairly robust and designed to withstand shock - considering how much HDDs have matured over the years.
Click to expand...

An SSD would be much better bet from a performance perspective too, if you can afford a big enough SSD do get one.

My main concern is damage to the HDD if I move or apply some light shock to the laptop. How fragile are HDDs? How hard would I have to shock the laptop for the HDD to get damaged?
Click to expand...

When the laptop is turned off the HDD heads are locked and can't hit the disk surface so the risk of damage is exceedingly small (unless you drop it of course). The biggest risk will come if you shock the laptop whilst it's running. How hard a shock? I have no hard data for you but you'd need a fairly sturdy shock to damage the disk, much more than you'll get by carrying it around and/or picking it off a desk and putting it back. I assume you'd treat it with normal care and attention and given that you shouldn't need to worry.

From my understanding of HDDs, damaged is caused when the read/write header comes into contact or scratches the platter. Is this correct? If so, I'd imagine the platter gets damaged pretty easily. Am I correct?
Click to expand...

You are correct, if the R/W heads hit the platter they will score the magnetic surface and probably scrap the disk. Lots of technology goes into modern HDDs (especially laptop HDDs) to reduce the possibility of this. As I said, as long as you're reasonably careful you won't need to worry about this.

Deciding between the 5200RPM HDD and the 7200RPM HDD, would the 7200 be more fragile and more likely to get damaged than the 5200 because it's spinning faster? Or does the speed of the platter not matter?
Click to expand...

The speed of this disk makes no difference to how robust it is. You will want to buy a 7200rpm HDD for performance reasons, they really are much faster in use.

Also, how much louder would the 7200 HDD be?
I would like the laptop to be as quiet as possible.
Click to expand...

There won't be any noticeable increase in sound from a 7200rpm HDD. That said, some models of HDD are known to be noisier than others (whatever the speed) so you might want to ask about the sound level of the particular disk you plan to get.

Note: I am not talking about dropping the laptop, I mean through general bumps and shocks.
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Understood. :)
 
mantadog

mantadog

Superhero Level Poster
Youtube has some interesting torture tests of HDD vs SSD and HDD can apparently stand a lot more then many people think.

Providing you don't throw your laptop about like an angry toddler then you shouldn't have much to fear from getting a HDD and it not being able to withstand normal handling. It really would take a significant drop to damage the HDD at which point you are damaging the case/screen/keyboard/motherboard etc etc etc anyway.
 
GeorgeHillier

GeorgeHillier

Prolific Poster
An SSD is faster and a lot more robust since there's no moving parts.

But a HDD is fairly good. They will only break if you drop it or shock it relatively hard while it's running.

Having said that, sometimes you can be unlucky and shock it at a certain time and break it easily (although very unlikely)
 
M

Mordant

Silver Level Poster
My partner slapped her hand on my old laptop in exasperation while having an argument with our daughter which totally destroyed the HDD but my son dropped the same laptop without affecting the HDD.

The laptop was on during both incidents but maybe the disk wasn't being used when it was dropped
or maybe the drop was less of a shock.
 
E

Erchz

Member
Mordant said:
My partner slapped her hand on my old laptop in exasperation while having an argument with our daughter which totally destroyed the HDD but my son dropped the same laptop without affecting the HDD.

The laptop was on during both incidents but maybe the disk wasn't being used when it was dropped
or maybe the drop was less of a shock.
Click to expand...

Some have "fall detection", when it realizes its falling down it stops the hdd motion. That would explain why it survived the fall and not your partner's slap since it had no way to detect it.
 
ubuysa

ubuysa

The BSOD Doctor
Erchz said:
Some have "fall detection", when it realizes its falling down it stops the hdd motion. That would explain why it survived the fall and not your partner's slap since it had no way to detect it.
Click to expand...

Excellent point. I think the fall detection lifts the heads well clear of the disk.
 
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