M1210 on the way what type HD

I sold my e1505 and have an outlet M1210 on the way, core2 t5600,2 gig 667 ram, 60 gig 5400rpm hd, 8xdvd/rw,gf7400

One question does the m1210 use the 1.8"hd, or the standard 2.5?

 

The XPS M1210 uses standard 2.5" drives, so rest assured you would be able to upgrade to the:
- 100GB 7200rpm SATA drive for maximum performance ( HGST Travelstar 7K100 which I have right now, or the Seagate Momentus 7200.1)
- 160GB 5400rpm SATA drive for much more storage ( HGST Travelstar 5K160, or the Western Digital Scorpio)
- 200GB 4200rpm SATA drive for insane amount of portable storage ( Toshiba MK2035GSS, although I'd really recommend against a 4200rpm drive these days since they are just way too slow).

 

Thanks, about how much was the 7200?, I had a 60 gig 7200 in 1505, and I liked it alot, I still really like the 1505, just too big to carry around, and I've screwed up my back big time, 2 surgeries so far, and probably a third before the year is out, so I wanted something smaller and lighter without sacrificing performance, though if I dont feel too bogged by the 5400, I might look into the 160, as this will be my primary machine for awhile, at least untill I can stay seated for more than 5 minutes

by the way, very nice review

 

Thanks, glad my review is of help.

Well, as far as performance goes, it really depends on what type of usage pattern you'll be using for it. The 7200rpm *is* noticabally faster under gaming (when loading new maps/levels etc.), file transfers, Photoshop (which gobbles up RAM for breakfast and eats HDD cache/swap file for lunch). However, with the upcoming Windows Vista (which I have been using for the past 2 weeks), they added a lot of smart pre-fetch and caching algorithm so under general usage (web browsing, office work), even a 5400rpm unit should be able to cope with the workload as well as a 7200rpm unit.

To give you a general idea, my M1210 originally came with a 60GB 5400rpm Toshiba unit, and it gets around 25MB/s-40MB/s sequential transfer rate (read), scores a 4.1/5.9 in Vista's Windows Experience Index for Hard Drives. With the 100GB 7200rpm HGST unit, I get around 35MB/s-50MB/s sequential transfer rate (read), and a score of 5.1/5.9 in Vista's Windows Experience Index.

Its really up to you to decide if you want the performance, or the extra storage with the laptop without carrying an extra external drive.

As for price, I got mine for around US$165 including shipping from ZipZoomFly.com over a month ago. It's currently listed at $149.99 over at NewEgg (out of stock however). The HGST 7K100 SATA seems to be in very short supply since a month ago, I waited 2 weeks for mine to be back in stock again.

The HGST 5K160 160GB SATA is listed at $164.99 at NewEgg, and $175.99 at ZipZoomFly at the moment.

The Seagate Momentus SATA versions seems to be harder to find actually, as most places don't even lists them up, or only carry the lower capacities (<80GB for the 7200.1, or <120GB for the 5400.2)

 

awesome, I'll probably go with the larger capacity drive, and convert the old one into an external, I'll use vista if I'm eligible for the free upgrade, I ordered today, so I fit the time frame, I just dont know if outlet purchases qualify, it would be nice if it does, if not no real loss,I'll ask about it when I call to order my software cd's for a reformat, thanks for the help, now I've gotta just sit tight for the long and painful wait, though it shouldnt be too long, my last outlet purchase took less than a week, and I ordered it over a holiday weekend, I love dell outlet , saved nearly $600 and quick turnaround

 

AWESOME!!! should be here on tuesday!

 

Standard 2.5