Internal Hard Drives

Before you buy a new drive, it is important to determine what is best for you. This largely depends on the type of your computer:

Laptop User
Modern laptop internal hard drives tend to be 2.5″, though older models may use 3.5″ disks. An internet search for your laptop model will soon reveal suitable replacement hard drives. As laptops have only one space for a hard drive, this will mean having access to a separate computer or external hard drive bay to transfer your data and system files to your new hard disk.

This process is not recommended for novice users and is best left for a computer professional or enthusiast.

Mac User
Despite Macs using a lot of proprietary hardware, mac internal hard drives are no different to PC drives. However, check the terms of your Apple care agreement as installing third party components may void your warranty. Check the exact connection method for your model of Mac before buying.

PC User
PCs typically have many hard drive bays so adding additional storage is usually pretty easy. As always, avoid cheap internal hard drives as they tend to be less reliable and more prone to crashing. Western Digital or Seagate internal hard drives are the most expensive but the most reputable.

What to look for
All hard drives are not created equal. They vary not only by capacity but also by disk speed, measured in RPM. Buy the fastest, largest disk you can afford. In addition to this, it is important to consider the type of connection your computer uses. Older computers use IDE whereas newer computers use SATA connections.

If your motherboard is compatible with both of these connections, choose SATA drives for faster data transfer.

SSDs
SSDs or solid state drives are a new technology which are rapidly gaining popularity. They use flash memory rather than traditional moving parts and as such are much quicker but much more expensive. Some computer enthusiasts are now using SSDs as boot disk and using large traditional hard disks as their media storage units.

If you have a large budget then SSDs are definitely worth considering.

For novice users, it is better to upgrade storage by buying an external hard drive. When there is no other option, look for size, speed and choose a reputable brand for data integrity.