Hitachi Z7K320 review

It’s often difficult to find replacement hard disks for an ultra-portable laptop or netbook, as most 2.5in disks are still too large to fit inside such compact systems. Anyone looking to upgrade should consider the slim Hitachi Travelstar Z7K320, as its 7mm profile should fit even the smallest of laptops.

Understandably for such a slim disk, the Z7K320 has a relatively small capacity. At only 7mm thick, there isn’t room for a second disk platter, so Hitachi has opted to use the largest single platter it currently produces. 320GB might seem small in comparison to the 750GB and 1TB laptop hard disks from other manufacturers, but this is still a big step up from the 160GB disk that’s likely to have come with your netbook.

In spite of its relatively small capacity, the Z7K320 can still compete with larger disks when it comes to performance thanks to a 7,200RPM spindle speed. It managed 64.2MB/s write and 101.2MB/s read speeds in our large file transfer test, which is on par with other performance laptop disks. Small files were also slightly above average, with 63.6MB/s writes and 62.5MB/s reads. Crysis loaded in 36 seconds, which is faster than most 9.5mm 2.5in disks.

On first inspection, the Travelstar Z7K320 looks aimed squarely at netbook and ultra-portable laptop owners, and it’s a great choice for them. However, anyone on a budget should consider it for larger laptops as well. It’s a decent performer and a great budget replacement for an ageing 2.5in disk.