I have been upgrading a lot of laptops lately, with both SATA and IDE controllers, some of them really old. I have yet to have a problem with any replacement drives.
My suggestion would be to buy the drive and install it. If it's not compatible, buy a 2.5 inch enclosure off eBay for a few pounds and use it as an external drive. That way you get your extra space either way.
Snibborg
