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Since I had an hard time finding information on the subject myself and had to discover it the hard way I publish here a report on my experience upgrading a Toshiba X200 laptop original hard drive to the maximum capacity currently available for 2,5'' disks (1TB) hoping it can be useful for someone else in the same circumstances.

Background

Toshiba X200 1AA Laptops came with a PSPB9E motherboard which although has space for two disks annoyingly only comes with one SATA connector. Mine was originally packed with a (pretty impressive in 2007) 300 GB Fujitsu (model MHX2300BT) which with time became insufficient.

Current Status of 1TB 2,5'' HDs

Currently two manufacturers are offering 1TB 2,5'' HDs:

1. Western Digital, featuring the WD Scorpio Blue. Available both: i) for internal use (model WD10TPVT) and ii) within a case for external storage purposes (WD Elements SE, model WDBABV0010ABK);
2. Seagate, featuring an external Free Agent Go (Model ST910004FAD2E1)

The Problem

Three variables are to be considered while searching for a suitable replacement:

1. Disk Size (most laptops are prepared for the more common 9,5mm thick disks; all TB portable disks though are three platters with 12,5mm - or more, as I will explain later. Fortunately this is not a big problem with X200 since the original Fujitsu was already of that form factor;
2. Connection (the replacement disk must have a SATA connector);
3. What to do with the removed original disk (assuming the wiseness of reusing/recycling it you will need at least to find an external suitable case with a USB interface or better)

All three considered one would believe that picking a 1 TB external disk would be the best solution since it would allow both to get the HD and a way to use your old disk; you would only need to replace the disk in the enclosure with the one in your computer. This not so simple, unfortunately, because:

• The WD Elements Portable SE model includes a crippled version of the hard drive with a soldered USB entry replacing the SATA connector;
• Seagate eGo in turn includes a “proper disk” with a SATA connector in due order but sadly the disk is not of standard size and is a bit more than 1 mm too thick to put in place and there is absolutely nothing you can do about it (no space = the sata connector does not even align and you simply can not remould the plastic box of the laptop; no space for “improvisation” here). Once you find this you will understand why Seagate is not offering a separate version of the disk and the physical details are to be found nowhere in the manufacturer's home page.

The Solution

Finally, what does work and is your only working solution is to get the version for internal use of  Western Digital. It matches just fine and the extra 0.2 mm in length will not be an obstacle for you to close the bay.

Once installed WD10TPVT will only not offer you 3 times more space as it will outperform considerably the MHX2300BT as you will see from the benchmark bellow (and also by  the fact it returns a 5.9 score against 4.2 in Windows rating):

As for the external case to house the removed MHX2300BT I have found that the A. C. Ryan Allubox (model ACR-HD83060) has enough space. Beware tough that the large Firewire 6 pins cable included will not got with the i1394 (4 pins) on your Toshiba X200 (there is also a standard USB one included in the bundle, so do not worry ).

Reference

Original MHX2300BT Manual including detailed size specifications(against which you can search for a replacement).

Benchmark