I don't know about the vibration aspects, but I have read conflicting reports about nearly every other aspect. Some 5400 rpm drives have been faster, some 7200 rpm drives have used less power (and therefore battery), and most reports say that a large cache only helps for very few types of file transfers. Noise is probably more dependent on brand than capacity of the drive.

I would carefully read the specs on the specific drives you are looking at and take everything with a grain of salt if you read people's reviews.

In your position I would first choose a capacity (you mentioned 320gb), then a brand, and then read some reviews. Any differences in battery life will be less than dimming your screen or turning off bluetooth so I wouldn't worry about it.

Permalink | Report