Hard Drive Purchase

[neuron]

I need to replace a 320GB SATA II Hard drive in a Gateway desktop computer. The drive is making a clicking noise upon booting the PC and will not boot into Windows 7. The DOS window stops at "verifying DMI Pool Data". Inserting the Windows 7 Disc and selecting repair gets me nowhere.

Where is the best place to purchase a similar HDD at a reasonable price nowadays?

Thank you.

[neuron]

I'll consider fitting a 500GB or 1TB drive if need be.

Thanks.

[Answerprancer]

Physically? CEX if you don't mind used (but guaranteed).
I recently bought a 500GB sata HD (7200rpm) for £38, having walked out of PC world and Maplin who were doing new ones for £70.
There has been a worldwide shortage due to the massive floods in Thailand, but apparently they are recovering so prices should come back down again.
While this shortage was(/is) happening, I don't trust online sources.

[VHG]

I use ebuyer who are very good (not ebay but ebuyer)

http://www.ebuyer.com/

[boxtops]

We've got a Buffalo HD, does what we need it to - not sure if it was Currys or Tesco where we bought it.

[VHG]

I think your Buffalo HD is an external hard drive (a hard drive in a small case).

This poster is looking for an internal hard drive (just the "bare" hard drive) to put inside a computer.

[Old_Geezer]

When I need a new drive I might make a note at what the local shops are offering, but a price search/comparison site is what I reallt rely on. First choice for me is Froogle since Google is presently my search engine of choice. I avoid unexpectedly low prices, and where I feel there are too many dissatisfied customer reviews and pick the cheapest of the ones that remain. Tends to work ok.

If splashing out you might want to consider getting a small SSD drive in addition. I've been looking at them recently.

[ChuckFickens]

If it's your system drive then go for a 7200RPM drive in preference, and a drive from any of the main manufacturers will do fine (seagate, western digital or maxtor)

http://www.misco.co.u...s-Internal-Hard-Drive

http://www.misco.co.u...s-Internal-Hard-Drive

[ChuckFickens]

Oh and although SSD (solid state drives) are much faster, you'd probably not see enough benefit in a slightly older system to make the extra cost viable.

[Answerprancer]

I use ebuyer too, I'm not sure if their stocks of (decent) HDDs are good at the moment though.

[neuron]

Thank you all. I'm very grateful. I picked up a Seagate ST1500DM003 1.5 TB drive in a local branch of PC world on Saturday. It cost me £79.99, which is far cheaper than I can find it on the web. I realise that it's a far bigger hdd than I intended to buy, but it was a bargain I couldn't resist!