One 7200 rpm drive or two 5400's?

If I got a Vostro 1700 or Inspiron 1720, I would have the option of getting either a pair of non-RAID 5400 rpm drives or just one drive, which could be 7200 rpm. I'm not sure what to do.

This would be my only computer and I would be keeping it for 4 to 5 years. I would be storing all my documents, photos and videos on it. I have 10 GB so far and would probably add 5GB per year. I would not move the laptop much and I already have an external drive for backups.

I value speed and want to have the OS and cache files on a 7200 rpm drive, but it seems a shame not to take advantage of the two drive option. For one thing, I could put all my data on the second drive, and remove it if the laptop needed to be sent out for repairs. Also, two drives would give me more capacity, though I'm not sure that I need it.

One option is to order the laptop with two 5400 rpm drives, so that I get the necessary connector, adapter and screws for the second drive, and order a 7200 rpm drive separately and replace the primary drive with it. However, I am concerned about whether I can manage this. I would probably want to keep the mediadirect partition (or move it to the secondary drive) and perhaps the recovery partition. I have never imaged or partitioned a drive or installed an operating system, and I am concerned about Vista Genuine Advantage. I would have no use for the surplus drive.

Another option is to order the laptop with a 7200 rpm drive and order a 5400 rpm drive separately as well as the necesary connector, adapter and screws separately. I am concerned that it may be difficult to get those items.

What do you think?

Fuzzy

 

One 7200RPM will suffice.

The idea of backing up data on another drive in the notebook itself is in my opinion a ridiculous one. In the event of damage or theft, what use is a 'backup' located in precisely the same chassis?

I would rely solely on external methods, and therefore benefit from less noise, heat, weight and battery drain that a dual drive setup would bring for what amounts to a negligible gain.

 

I agree. If space and speed are most important, go for a single 200GB 7200RPM drive or a 250GB 5400RPM.

 

Having data on a separate drive to the OS could be an advantage, both for performance and in case the machine had to go for repair.

 

Are you sure that you would need extra adapters & screws if you were to buy one separately?

I guess it depends a lot on your use, as well. You mention 'documents, photos and videos'. If you're going to be doing substantial video editting in particular then I imagine you'd get better performance from two disks even if they were slightly slower, but I could be wrong.

I don't know what I'd really recommend, though. If I were you, I'd probably actually get a single 7200rpm drive for now and consider adding another later - assuming your use is fairly general (and that the issue with screws etc shouldn't be too major). Getting two 5400rpm drives with the expectation that you may later want to replace the primary one sounds like making things unnecessarily complicated for yourself, although not rediculously so.

 

I think I read that you need them, plus a connector, in one of these threads, that I can't find now.

As I understand it, a laptop ordered with just one hard drive has just an empty space where the secondary drive would go. The adapter is probably the hard drive StrikeZone suspension system. Screws are needed to install it. Apparently, the screws are two different sizes and may be $10 each when bought separately.

Fuzzy

 

I went from a 5400 to a 7200 and Im very pleased with the upgrade. My advice is to get the largest 7200 drive and back everything up with an external unit.

 

Yeah, you'd probably be happiest with a single 7200RPM drive for now. The 200GB one should work nicely for you.

 

The hard drive is the slowest part of the computer; always go for the fastest choice; and have an external as backup.

 

buy the 7200 RPM drive. the Inspiron 1720 has room for 2 hard drives anyway; just buy another internal drive later on.

 

My advice is get a single 7200 rpm hard drive, and you can always buy an extra 7200 or 5400 rpm in the future if you end up filling it up.

Also, if you have a dvd burner, you can save a lot of space just by putting large video files on dvd's.

 

The problem with getting the second hard drive later is getting the caddy and screws for the second hard drive bay -- especially the screws.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=172239
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=176050

 

Thanks, Chelet. You understand the issue .Those are a couple of the threads I couldn't find. I don't know how I would get the screws if they did not come with the hard drive carrier. I have seen any manual that explains how to add a second drive, as opposed to replace one.

Fuzzy

 

There's this
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins1720/en/SM/hdd.htm

or download the entire service manual
https://dcse.dell.com/ifr/Portables/Inspiron_1720_1721.zip