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TICKET ARCHIVE -> Re: 17" Powerbook G4-Install a bigger HD-100GB...yea or nay?
TechPandora - Jan 20, 2006 - 6:44 pm
This is more of an advice question.
My laptop is approximately 3 years old. The hard drive has about 18GB left(free, that is).
I do have external HD's for BU purposes but, I thought it might be nice to have a bit more space actually on this computer. Sooooo, I was thinking about getting a 100 GB HD installed.
Should I even bother?
If I feel I must have a bigger HD what should I go for?
5400 or 7200? Any brands in particular that are more reliable?
On the other hand, should I sit tight & just continue doing what I have been doing(using my external drives)?
Thoughts. opinions?
Thank you & btw...no rush!
;-)
My laptop is approximately 3 years old. The hard drive has about 18GB left(free, that is).
I do have external HD's for BU purposes but, I thought it might be nice to have a bit more space actually on this computer. Sooooo, I was thinking about getting a 100 GB HD installed.
Should I even bother?
If I feel I must have a bigger HD what should I go for?
5400 or 7200? Any brands in particular that are more reliable?
On the other hand, should I sit tight & just continue doing what I have been doing(using my external drives)?
Thoughts. opinions?
Thank you & btw...no rush!
;-)
ishan - Jan 20, 2006 - 7:39 pm
It all depends on how long you plan to keep your laptop. The 7200 rpm drives are (IMHO) nicer, simply because disk access is noticeably faster than the 5400 rpm drives. However, they are a)more expensive and b)often not as big in size as the 5400 rpm drives. Reliability is anyone's guess and with a sample size of one, statistical data mean very little. The cost of installation is another factor.
I would probably suggest buying a bigger external hard drive (7200 rpm, 16 MB cache) for the time being. If you are using the external drive as your boot drive, that'll be a bit cumbersome if you travel with your laptop, but if it sits in the same place most of the time, it makes no difference.
With the new generation of "Macintel" computers arriving this year (I have a MacBook Pro Duo as a test platform), I think I would save the trouble and expense of a new bigger internal drive and use the money to get the biggest possible internal drive you can get if/when you decide to replace your laptop. The difference in speed (forget the 4x faster PR on Apple's page) is really quite significant for apps written for the new Intel processor.
Anyway, that's my view; I would be happy to return your question to the pool if you would like more opinions.
I would probably suggest buying a bigger external hard drive (7200 rpm, 16 MB cache) for the time being. If you are using the external drive as your boot drive, that'll be a bit cumbersome if you travel with your laptop, but if it sits in the same place most of the time, it makes no difference.
With the new generation of "Macintel" computers arriving this year (I have a MacBook Pro Duo as a test platform), I think I would save the trouble and expense of a new bigger internal drive and use the money to get the biggest possible internal drive you can get if/when you decide to replace your laptop. The difference in speed (forget the 4x faster PR on Apple's page) is really quite significant for apps written for the new Intel processor.
Anyway, that's my view; I would be happy to return your question to the pool if you would like more opinions.
TechPandora - Jan 21, 2006 - 8:02 pm
Okay, well then, I'm going to sit tight & wait for the new "Intel chip" Powerbooks.
You helped me see the light, once again.
Although, I'm not racing to dump my current laptop. I'll most likely give it to the parental units.
I have a 100GB external HD that has about 80GB free & it's relatively small. It's one of those "Disk-Lite" models(I believe that's the brand). The main reason I get so concerned about space is due to the fact that I use my laptop for work (I work in film editing). I frequently get loaded down with music & quicktime files from our VFX vendor.
In the grand scheme of things, I can always delete most of the QT's when I'm done with a given job. Why I felt the need to bore you with this, I have no idea but, I thought it might explain why I was worried about my personal & professional world competing for space on my laptop.
And there you have it.
Thank you. Thank you.
You helped me see the light, once again.
Although, I'm not racing to dump my current laptop. I'll most likely give it to the parental units.
I have a 100GB external HD that has about 80GB free & it's relatively small. It's one of those "Disk-Lite" models(I believe that's the brand). The main reason I get so concerned about space is due to the fact that I use my laptop for work (I work in film editing). I frequently get loaded down with music & quicktime files from our VFX vendor.
In the grand scheme of things, I can always delete most of the QT's when I'm done with a given job. Why I felt the need to bore you with this, I have no idea but, I thought it might explain why I was worried about my personal & professional world competing for space on my laptop.
And there you have it.
Thank you. Thank you.
ishan - Jan 21, 2006 - 8:14 pm
You're welcome and it's a question a lot of users who depend on their PB to generate $ will have to face this year (or next).
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