Hitachi drive repair

[Seventies Man]

Hi,
I want to attempt to recover a drive from my laptop. The drive model is HITACHI 120GB HTS541612J9SA00 SATA. A drive recovery company has told me that the data is intact but the heads have crashed. They charge a lot of money to repair the drive and I can't afford it so I have two options:
1. Try to replace the heads

2. Try to move the platter

If I try to replace the heads must the all the drive details match as in the MLA etc. or is it sufficient to just get a donor drive of the same model?

If I attempt to move the platter, am I right in thinking that I can switch the PCB also to ensure compatibility?

and finally, which method is the easiest to carry out and which has the best chance of success?

Thanks for the help!

[harddrivespecialist]

Do you believe data recovery prices are high for no reason?

[pepe]

I would not encourage you to do either, moreover I would say forget the second one.

U can find members on this forum near to you and get a more friendly quotation (probably, since i don't know how much was the previous one).

I can recommend PcImage (Sean), or PM me for a quotation.

regards,
pepe

[CK]

Can you give us a rough idea of what you were quoted for this work?

[Seventies Man]

€1200 plus vat for recovery

€395 plus vat for parts

I'd rather take my chances with a donor drive. It looks possible based on the research I've done.

[CK]

That's ridiculously high. Given those prices, I don't think you've spoken to my company in Dublin. I'll PM you.

[harddrivespecialist]

I am sure that some members of this forum will be able to recover your data for a portion of the quote of that company.

[HDD Spaz]

what company quoted that?

[pcimage]

€1200 plus vat for recovery

€395 plus vat for parts

I'd rather take my chances with a donor drive. It looks possible based on the research I've done.

Are these people having a laugh? Ridiculous pricing.

Sean