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Shady hard drive replacement by Dell for my 9300?

post #1 of 25
10/26/05 at 5:32am
Thread Starter 
So I just spent an hour on Dell chat at 3 AM because my stupid Hitachi-clicking drive kept me awake (laptop / desk are by my bed). I know clicking is normal for these drives and I tried using CHC to no avail.

Anyway here's my deal. I bought my lappy w/ an 80gb 7200rpm drive and Dell says Hitachi only makes the 7200 rpm drives for the i9300. So, they are sending me a refurbished 80gb 5400 rpm drive as a replacement, guaranteed not to be a Hitachi. Now I personally can't tell the difference between 7200 and 5400 rpm, but I think just out of principle I should keep my loud Hitachi...I paid for 7200 rpm after all. I've had Hitachi's replaced before on a 700m and the thing was silent...Fujitsu was the brand. Do you guys think I should opt for silence over "slightly" faster data access, or stick with my Hitachi? Thanks!
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post #2 of 25
10/26/05 at 6:02am
I would say stay with the 7200rpm one.
Or beg dell to give you a 100gb/5400rpm one instead (sorta similar value), it should be a similar speed, but quiet...
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post #3 of 25
10/26/05 at 9:29am
I don't think constant clicking is normal. I have owned two 60GB (7200) and a 100 GB (7200 rpm) by Hitachi - all for use in DELL Inspiron's. None of them clicked. I did have one that clicked but it was in a notebook I returned because I did not like the screen. The drives do make a little bit of noise that could be considered "clicking like" when the hard drive platter is accessed but should not hear this noise constantly (unless perhaps you have a task running that constantly does I/O).

I would definitely not accept a 5400 rpm drive as a replacement unless they were giving you a partial refund.
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post #4 of 25
10/26/05 at 11:03am
I had the clicking also and fixed it with a Toshiba 16mb cache 5400 rpm 100gb drive. It's so much more quiet and performs even better than my previous Seagate Momentus. However, if you want the Toshiba drive you'll probably have to buy and install it yourself. I doubt that Dell carries that one.
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post #5 of 25
10/26/05 at 12:01pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks for the replies, I'm probably going to keep it for now. The clicking I think is normal, it only clicks constantly when the platter is accessed as was mentioned above. Other drives I've had don't do this, but other Hitachi's I had did. I suppose I could sell this one (assuming its not faulty) and just buy a different drive on Newegg or something. I'll run some tests on it.
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post #6 of 25
10/26/05 at 12:06pm
general clicking when idle is normal , its the disk parking the heads to save wear, 80% of my laptops did this. u can change acoustic mamagment to quiet and it shold stop it.

Alex
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post #7 of 25
10/26/05 at 12:38pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by xpsgen2man
general clicking when idle is normal , its the disk parking the heads to save wear, 80% of my laptops did this. u can change acoustic mamagment to quiet and it shold stop it.

Alex
Yep I know that its normal. I'm using Notebook Hardware Control on the "quiet" setting and nothing is changed. My point simply was Hitachi is much much louder than other drives for me.
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post #8 of 25
10/26/05 at 12:55pm
are they making you send back the bad hard drive?
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post #9 of 25
10/26/05 at 7:12pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by i93topSpeed
are they making you send back the bad hard drive?
I cancelled the replacement completely, I'm so fed up with those crazy foreigners at Dell. After hours of idiots and another replacement- this one for a 60gb 5400rpm drive- I said the hell w/ it and am buying a 100gb 5k4 Toshiba from Newegg, or a Seagate from CompUSA. I got so frustrated I almost considered returning my 9300, but I love it too much despite the poor support.
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post #10 of 25
10/26/05 at 7:38pm
yea, those foreigners are frustrating >.<

I always raise my voice when talking with them, otherwise they just ignore you and read off of their "step by step troubleshooting (cannot go to step 4 when step 3 is not completed)".

But I love my laptop.
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post #11 of 25
10/26/05 at 9:07pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by tommms
yea, those foreigners are frustrating >.<

I always raise my voice when talking with them, otherwise they just ignore you and read off of their "step by step troubleshooting (cannot go to step 4 when step 3 is not completed)".

But I love my laptop.
Haha, I always manage to be polite when talking to the techs, its either hit or miss usually, but if you get a cool one they'll hook you up if you are nice.

I've decided to keep the Hitachi 7k2 80gb; Hitachi is quality despite the noise, I can live with it. Now if you'll excuse me I have some gaming to do, finally
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post #12 of 25
10/26/05 at 9:09pm
My 60GB 7200rpm Hitachi is dead silent...
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post #13 of 25
10/26/05 at 10:01pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ZippoMan
My 60GB 7200rpm Hitachi is dead silent...
i have 2 laptops with 60/7200 and they are silent. the one in my i8200 has been in since the drive hit the market and it was real expensive back them.
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post #14 of 25
10/26/05 at 10:15pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ZippoMan

My 60GB 7200rpm Hitachi is dead silent...
Yeah. Mine is as well.
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post #15 of 25
10/26/05 at 11:07pm
Thread Starter 
I only notice noise when there is disk activity; the hard disk LED flashes frequently and the "clicking" accompanies this, like every few seconds. I also have NHC running. I was under the impression that this is normal, I am cringing at the thought of calling tech support again.
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post #16 of 25
10/26/05 at 11:13pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by odious_m
Yeah. Mine is as well.
I think this would be the part where you post how to quiet hitachi drives using that program. I havent done it yet, but general consensus is it works like a charm
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post #17 of 25
10/26/05 at 11:23pm
^ Mr. K6, you are absolutely correct.
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post #18 of 25
10/26/05 at 11:28pm
Thread Starter 
I've checked the Dell website, this site, and Google searching, apparently there is no firmware upgrade or program for the 80gb 7200rpm drives? Only ones I am finding are for the 60gb 7200rpm and the 80gb 5400rpm.
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post #19 of 25
10/26/05 at 11:30pm
i have never heard any clicking on any of my drives, your probably looking for a noise and it embeds in your head.
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post #20 of 25
10/26/05 at 11:42pm
I have the same weird noise, When it happens It clicks like very two to three min. I guess you could kinda compare it to a engine pinging noise...I have no clue what it is, I havent noticed any problems so im not going to complain yet. But if there is a way to shut it up I will.
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