Thanks for the input.

I'll try shifting the drive a bit and see if it helps. Did you shift it in any particular direction (up, down, closer to the tray-edge, etc.) to get the good end-result, or was it just a success at random?

I've allready downloaded the feature tool, but I haven't tried the Acoustics management settings yet. I fear it'll ruin the performance of the drive. In your opinion, does this setting greatly reduce performance, or just slightly?

BTW, I'm seriously considering returning my D600, so that may be the outcome if this doesn't work.

I had the best luck by shifting it down, or away from the top of the laptop. Again, it won't move much, but in my case it definitely make a difference.

As far as the acoustic managment tools, I didn't do any benchmarking or anything, yet I did not notice any degredation so I'm guessing the performance change is slight. I ended up setting the acousics at around 25% (on the slider). Anything above about 60% I found to be too loud for my tastes.

I also believe that changing the AM properties made the drive vibrate less, but I was shifting things around at the same time so I am not positive that the AM did anything. I should have been more scientific about it, but it's worth a shot.

When you say a "Soft Sticker" do you mean a foam/spongy pad of some type the is adhered, by glue, to the metal part. If so maybe that could be the cause of the vibration, no pad.

Just took another look at the two harddisks (the 7K60 and the old 30GB 80GN). Physically, these two disks doesn't appear different (exactly same size etc), except in one aspect:

On the bottom side of the disk drive, as in the side you face towards the disk tray, the side almost covered with green circuit board, there is a nearly circular metallic "thing" on both disks (I'm not so technical as to the internals of a harddrive, so you'll have to bare with me on the descriptive side here).

On the 80GN disk, the one with no vibration noise, there is a soft sticker over this metallic "thing". On the 7K60 disk, the one making the noise, the metal is fully exposed. Now I'm wondering: Since the disk with the sticker on it doesn't cause vibration noise, could the noise be caused by this exposed metal on the 7K60?

I'm only speculating here, of course, but any qualified opinion would be greatly appreciated.

Have tried shifting the drive down. As you said, there isn't much room for moving the drive, and my success hasn't been the best.

However, combined with AM settings, the vibration isn't as loud, but it's still there, so I'm thinking about switching back to the old 30GB drive. It just seems like a setback, the heat issue taken into account.

Will be spending the next couple of days considering whether or not to return my D600...

Thanks for the input, CECarl!

Not exactly spongy or foamy, more of a "regular" plastic-like sticker (or pad), about 1mm thick, and yes, it appears to be glued on. The plastic-like material, however is very soft, leading me to suspect its having some kind of vibration-absorbing function.

I'm thinking it might be something Dell puts on in assembly to make the drives "compatible" with the D600 vibration-wise, but this isn't easily verified, of course. Anyone know what is "normal" here - no plastic pad over the metallic object, or a plastic pad? (Maybe just input on what your harddisks have looked like in the past)

Interesting.  I'll take a look at my other 2.5" drives when I get home and see whether they have the 'pad' on them.  My 7k60 doesn't appear to have the pad like you are describing.

Well, I have an old IBM 10.5g and a new Hitachi/IBM 30g and both have the plastic cover.  My 7k60 does not.

I can't imagine that it does much as it seems more likely that it is there as a non-conductive surface, but you never know.  Might be worth a try putting something there on the 7k60 and see if it makes a difference.  I would probably stick it to the drive tray rather than the HDD itself though.  Just to be safe.

Yes, it might be worth a shot. I'll see if I can find some similar material to place on the drive tray, as I'm guessing it won't be that smart to pull the plastic cover off the old 30GB disk...

Any thoughts as to what could be used instead?

I would probaby try something simple and temporary to start with - maybe a band-aid stuck to the drive tray. I would boot the machine just long enough to see if it helped the situation, yet not long enough for it to get too hot. If that does seem to fix the issue you would need something that is non-conductive and moderately heat resistant. Maybe some thin automobile gasket material or something similar.

I tried using some of the plastic-like material that is protecting new systems during shipping (the stuff that you take off when you open the laptop screen for the first time). This had very little effect. So it appears that the pad is not the cause of the vibration differences.

After having tried the suggestions seen here, I've given up and have reinstalled the 80GN 30GB drive. Am now in the process of trying to get a refund on the 7K60, and at the same time considering whether or not I can live with the D600/80GN heat conditions in the long run...

Anyways, thanks for all the help on trying to resolve this problem!