After a very disappointing and sudden hard disk fail, I have to buy a new drive for my laptop.

Which of the two would you vote for? The two candidates are:

1. WESTERN DIGITAL 500GB WD5000BPKT SCORPIO BLACK SATA (WD5000BPKT)

2. HITACHI 500GB TRAVELSTAR H2IK500854SE SATA2 (H2IK500854SE)

Basically, the WD boasts to have some features that sound nice, e.g. Intelliseek, SecurePark, WhisperDrive and ShockGuard, and also spins at 7.200RPM, while the Hitachi spins at 5.400RPM and seems more modest. But generally Hitachi's get some good points lately in regard to their failure rates.

Of course I know that any drive can unexpectedly fail, and I'm gonna do regular backups in order to not face such a disaster anymore. But I'd like to feel safe about the technology I'll be using daily as well.

So, what do you think gurus about the two drives? WD seems technologically superior to the Hitachi. But in reality, does it stand for its specs? Which of the two has entered your lab for recovery most times?

I suggest SSD, hitachi, toshiba, fujitsu for laptops in this order.

Guys I revive this topic as I had a problem with the Hitachi disk I bought (the one I opened this topic for). Fortunately, I've learnt by lesson (to create backups) and didn't loose any data.

The thing is, the shop doesn't have the same model to replace the disk. They suggested a Seagate Momentus 5400.6 500GB ST9500325AS.

What's your opinion about them? I don't have the best idea about Seagates in general, but I'd like to know about this particular model... So please tell me your opinion.

Its only ever about preference. As long as you maintain backups it wont matter.

Seagates have their faults, as do hitachi and any other brand.