starttomove

I was thinking of replacing the internal hard drive on my Packard Bell Easy Note L4012. I have done some research so far into replacing my hard drive but I just want to confirm exactly what kind of hard drive I should upgrade to. My laptop I believe is 5 years old and after looking under System Information the name of the hard drive came up under Name as Intel 82801FB/FBM Ultra ATA Storage Controllers -266FF. I've been having trouble distinguishing between whether it is either a PATA or SATA type of drive but I believe it is a PATA drive. Also I was wondering about the physical size of the hard drive. I believe the physical size should be around 2.5 inches rather than 3.5 that is meant for desktop computers. So my main questions are is this right? Should I upgrade to a PATA hard drive? If so is the size of 2.5 inches correct? Should there be any other factors to consider before I buy a new hard drive?