illuminate

Seagate 7200.11 S/N 5qkomphm, st3750630as, p/n 9bx146-621, hp24, date code 09124, site code wu, wwn:5000c5000e8c733d. wgbu: 460315-002, ct:2ahzh0183wk3gv. Same symptoms as described- slower startups, started freezing all within 3 days of final bricking. Talked to hp support and said it was an obvious hard drive failure and that I needed a new one. No mention of seagate problems. Found this site and many others all describing exactly what happened to me. What a sham! HP said I needed to replace with identical same hard drive from seagate-seems stupid to do so. Can I substitute?