Hard Drive Storage Sizes Inflated??

Hey all..
Not a really big problem.. but just a simple wondering... When I ordered my 1420... I chose the 160gig option for my hard drive size. However, when I received the computer... I noticed that the capaciity of the hardrive was only 146Gigs (136G for my C drive, 10G for media direct). Is this normal? Is this how it's supposed to be.... that i get 14 gigs cut out of nowhere?

Just wondering.

 

Inflated as in humans use base 10 while computers use base 2.

http://compreviews.about.com/od/storage/a/ActualHDSizes.htm

 

Yeah. 1 gig in marketing speak = 1000 megs
1 gig in binary = 1024 megs

You would think the manufacturers would simply work to add in that extra space when making the platers. Might add a bit to production/R&D, but with the amount of headache it would clear up, it would probably be worth it.

 

btw, fwiw, I think Maxtor is in a class-action lawsuit about this right now. I'm pretty sure they started this whole mess of 1:1.

 

Like I always say: Class action lawsuits =

1. Companies lose a ton of money.
2. Lawyers get rich.
3. Customers get a $20 coupon.
4. Companies raise prices to cover loss.

 

Point taken, so true ^

 

Class actions are like rebates. Companies count on percentages not to redeem their said coupons so that they don't lose ALL of that money.

Ever see that Pepsi game show that was supposidly going to lottery off $1b? It never happened and they tried twice.

Can you imagine the implications if they actually had to pay that out? Regardless if they covered their butts with insurance, you don't see them holding that lottery every year.

 

Well that makes it even better. The lawyers get rich, and the people who were actually effected get nothing. Yay, go legal system.

 

Well its like the Class Action against MC/Visa for charging Int'l fees on their credit cards. I had probably three CCs back in 95-98. I frequented Canada quite often and I'm sure I've been charged that fee more than once. But I haven't had any records of those accounts for years so I'll never be able to 1. prove that I was charged and 2. prove that I had a card.

 

wouldn't you rather have them tell you straight up how much space your HDD will have? its so damn annoying to buy a 160 gb HDD only to find out it really doesnt hold 160 gb... See to me the only thing that matters is the bottom line, not what they call it... but they confuse people with all of their flashy marketing terms. If its 149GB... SAY 149 GB..


People want to know what they buy... no one likes surprises.

 

DeusEx, I completely agree. Instead of suing them, just have them report the actual space on the drives.

The one thing that stands in the way is that a company would be put at a disadvantage to be the first to do so, so they all have to do it at the same time.

 

you have a complete misunderstanding of the purpose of a class action lawsuit and the legal system.

 

Edumacate me. What step on that list was false?

 

Actually they do tell you. The specs usually say something like that

160 GB* 7200RPM HDD.

*160 refers to..blah blah.. actual formatted capacity is less.

 

Yeah, it'd still be less misleading if you just stamp 149 GB on the box.

 

yeah i want them to say 149 instead of 160 because thats the actual size.I dont want that asterisk there either; fine print always sucks. Whats so difficult about that ? It really puts people who dont know a lot about computer hardware at a disadvantage.

 

The people who don't know a lot would never even figure out that it wasn't really 160GB. The only thing you can do is learn from this and be more careful the next time you buy. The reason they don't put 149 is 1, that's a messed up number, and 2, 160 will sell more.

I think the only way they will do it is if all the other manufacturers agreed to write the actual size. People go into stores and just "get this one because this number is higher." If you see two comptuers with the exact same specs and for the same price and one says 160 GB HDD and the other says 149 (In this example we'll all both drives the same), which one are you going to get?

 

you dont get it... I KNEW what i was buying.. im not complaining for myself... 149GB is plenty for me anyway.

Im annoyed that some people end up buying "80GB" when the HDD actually doesnt even have that much and then have to upgrade to better drives because they need more space on the computer.

In any case i think that companies should be forced to show the REAL hdd space, because displaying 160 gb or some other number and delivering less is awfully close to false advertising. The only thing covering their asses is that asterisk and the small print.