Robert;
the Hitachi DK238A-43 is listed as a 2.5" drive 9.5mm high
http://www.hgst.com/hdd/support/dk/2/2spec.html
I'm sure there isn't a 2.7"
Laptop drives are standard size.
3.5" desktop drives measure right at 4"
so laptop drives actually measure a little over  2.5" .
I just measured a toshiba and an IBM 2.5" drive
I have and they are 2.75" or 2-3/4 inch.
Any 2.5" drive will work fine in your Gateway, although I personally
would stay away from Fujitsu drives...........too many failures.

<>< Larry Fisk
         Fisk Computers
           Fruitvale, Idaho

----- Original Message -----
From: "Robert Lendrim" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, February 19, 2003 12:40 AM
Subject: [PCBUILD] Laptop hard drive


> My wife's Gateway Solo 2500 laptop has failed. It has an Hitachi DK238A-43
> hard drive. It reported bad hard drive clusters and will no longer boot. I
> managed to copy the critical files to an external USB drive. Now I have to
> get a new hard drive but have never before replaced a laptop drive. The 20
> Gig drives I find on Pricewatch are Fujitsu, Toshiba, and IBM. They are
> referred to as 2.5" drives. My existing drive measures 2.7" wide and the
> housing is made to accept a 2.7" drive. Have laptop drive sizes changed,
or
> do the 2.5" drives actually measure 2.7"? If there are different sizes,
can
> I find a larger size drive or adapt the smaller size to the computer?

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