5400 RPM drives compared to 7200 RPM drives

My deepest apologies (especially the ones who will care too much) if this subject has been started already... but mistakes happen. If this thread has been started already and there is a link to prove it, please point me in the direction if you wouldn't mind and then do whatever you want to the thread.

Anyway... my question is this: does the 7200 RPM drives eat a lot more battery life then the 5400 RPM drives? I was thinking of upgrading my mbp to a 320GB Seagate HD @ 7200 RPM's. I heard that it really boosts performance, if anyone has proof that it does not, I would appreciate to know the truth!

Thanks in advance, especially to those who will easily forgive me for posting a topic already started somewhere in the sands of time.

Hmm... I would assume boot times and application launches are faster?

ayeying said:

Boot Times and Application launches are faster by a bit. I'd figure if you're patient by a few seconds, it shouldn't be much of a bother.

Click to expand...

So the extra ten bucks for a 7200 RPM drive and any sacrificed battery life isn't worth it then?

This is what I was thinking of buying...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148336

The 5400 hdd is the same except a ten dollar difference, 8 mb cache and that's about it. lol

Thanks for the help everyone!!

Now I just need to have confidence in myself to replace this HDD... it's the old style, 2.2 GHZ santa rosa platform... I just hope it comes back together perfectly.


Update: I decided to order the Seagate 320GB HDD @ 5400 RPM's for 69.99 with free shipping (estimated 3 days). Great price. I decided against the 7200 RPM because of excess noise that has been reported from them, and to conserve battery life.