I figure I can live with my hard drive as it is now. I haven't yet been encountering massive problems related to corruption, so I suppose that frees up my hard drive funding for other purposes. That said, I'm considering new batteries for my laptop, since the one in here now is anything but useful.
The two batteries I'm looking at are a 6-cell and a 12-cell, so that should I buy both, they could be used in conjunction with each other. The first is an independent-brand PB994A-ER, 10.8v at 4.8Ah, which I can get about 3.5 hours off for $79. The second is an HP-branded EJ092UT, 14.8v at 6.45Ah, which I can get eleven or twelve hours off for $170.
The difficult part is that the 6-cell won't last a full work/school day, whereas the 12-cell is huge (but manageable). One option is to buy both the batteries, so that I could detach the 12-cell if it becomes inconvenient to carry at some point in time, and still have the decent 6-cell to work with. Another option is to buy just the 12-cell battery and either live with the extra bulk or hope I find a plug whenever necessary. The third and less preferable option is to buy just the 6-cell, and hope that it's capable of being substantially recharged over the course of a 35-minute break.
What's been preventing me from dumping $250 on batteries is the fact that, in its current state, my laptop can't properly report its charge capacity. It reports 100% capacity up until the battery dies and the machine shuts off. I'm very wary to contact HP about the matter, mainly because of one of the terms of my warranty. If they find that the problem lies with the battery and not the laptop, the service isn't covered under warranty, and I'll have to pay a minimum of $80 just for shipping both ways should I choose not to buy one of their $400 factory-direct batteries.
I've had multiple suggestions that I find somebody with the same laptop and swap batteries to test it myself. As of yet I haven't found anybody with another nx6325 or similar laptop, so doing so is more or less a lost cause. Any insightful comments would of course be appreciated.