** Intro **
A few months ago my hard drive (Western Digital) died on me out of the blue even though I had only had it for 6 months (the previous one broken by me dropping my laptop). I still don't know what happened but I've never been more grateful to have my back-up computer. However, the hard drive failure was a painful reminder that I should back my data up more often. I took to researching different drives and prices before choosing this drive. I was on a bit of a tight budget as I was not prepared for such an eventuality. However, this drive offered the best specs for the price and all from a trusted company.

** Specs **
This is an internal 2.5" hard drive. This is the size used in products such as laptops and games consoles. It has a capacity of 750GB. This is more than enough space for most computer users.

It has a data transfer rate of 300MBps and a buffer size of 16MB. The buffer size is the amount of RAM on the drive which translates to larger buffer size equals faster performance. I was wanting a 32MB buffer size but I was not successful in this. However, this was more of a want than a need. It has a spindle speed of 7200rpm. This is the largest factor in the performance of the drive, with larger speeds producing the better performance. However, with higher speeds comes more heat and noise. However, I have not noticed any increase in heat or noise with this hard drive.

It also has 'Seagate G-Force Protection' which is designed to detect when your laptop is falling to protect the hard drive and prevent loss of data. I haven't dropped my laptop yet (touch wood) so I can't comment on this, and I am not going to test this for the sake of a review.

** Installing and Performance **
This hard drive is slightly better than my old drive. I have noticed a slight improvement in speeds without any increase in heat or noise. I can throw a lot at the drive without slowing it down too much. I am definitely pleased with my purchase.

It was easy to replace (though I was glad to not have to unscrew and screw all those little laptop screws for a while). It was a case of removing the old drive and inserting the new one. Once installed, I verified in the BIOS that it recognised the drive and then it was just a case of installing Windows 7. I keep meaning to add a Linux partition to my laptop but other reviews tell me that it dual boots no problem.

** Recommendation **
This hard drive performs well, I have no issue with heat or noise and so far no issues with it just dying on me like my old hard drive. I would recommend this hard drive to anyone looking for a well-priced hard drive. Comparatively, it offers good specs for the price when compared to models in similar price ranges.

** Price and Availability **
This hard drive is currently £62.89 on Amazon and on Ebuyer for £67.26. The drive is available from other online retailers for around the same price. And places such as Ebuyer offer free delivery.

** Overall **
Overall, if you are looking to replace your laptops hard drive for whatever reason than I would recommend this drive. It offers decent specs for the price compared to other drives in a similar price range and it is from a trusted company. I have noticed that I have improved speeds without compromising noise and heat.