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    2TB Laptop with Free Fall sensor

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by nsgze, Jan 5, 2015.

  1. nsgze

    nsgze Notebook Enthusiast

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    Hi,

    I'm about to buy a brand new 2TB laptop hdd, but could not find any model with free fall sensor.
    Is free fall protection still available as used to be like the old Seagate Momentus 7200.2 models?
     
    Last edited: Jan 5, 2015
    nsgze, Jan 5, 2015
    #1
  2. tijo

    tijo Sacred Blame

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    Looking at spec sheets, there doesn't seem to be any.
     
    tijo, Jan 5, 2015
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  3. TomJGX

    TomJGX I HATE BGA!

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    Probably there is no sensor.. Anyways, you wouldn't need the sensor unless you have a habbit of dropping your laptop which is not healthy at all for your wallet ;)
     
    TomJGX, Jan 6, 2015
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  4. alexhawker

    alexhawker Spent Gladiator

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    I always thought the free fall sensor was in the notebook, rather than the drive?


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
    alexhawker, Jan 6, 2015
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  5. TomJGX

    TomJGX I HATE BGA!

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    That was what I was thinking about but I wasn't too sure about it myself..
     
    TomJGX, Jan 6, 2015
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  6. nsgze

    nsgze Notebook Enthusiast

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    The sensor is used to be in the drive itself.
    We have some old 320G 7200RPM Seagate models with and without free fall sensor
    There are two model numbers:
    1, ST9320421ASG (notice the G at the end, this is with free fall sensor)
    2, ST9320421AS

    Just looking for the same but with bigger capacity and it is strange that the free fall sensor went away from this drives... sh*t could happen, never known...
     
    nsgze, Jan 6, 2015
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  7. TomJGX

    TomJGX I HATE BGA!

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    Helps to save a dollar or 2 and really sensor is not needed nowadays.. Nobody cares about it..
     
    TomJGX, Jan 6, 2015
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  8. John Ratsey

    John Ratsey Moderately inquisitive Super Moderator

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    Some business notebooks (eg my Dell E7440) have an on-board free-fall sensor but it has become an uncommon feature for incorporation in the drives.

    Avoid putting cables where they can be tripped over (and try to launch the computer into orbit) and the likelihood of the the sensor being needed is much reduced.

    John
     
    John Ratsey, Jan 6, 2015
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  9. TomJGX

    TomJGX I HATE BGA!

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    "launched into orbit"

    That made me LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL so much :)
     
    TomJGX, Jan 7, 2015
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  10. RCB

    RCB Notebook Deity

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    Get an SSD, problem solved!
     
    RCB, Jan 7, 2015
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  11. tilleroftheearth

    tilleroftheearth Wisdom listens quietly...

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    Not really. SSD's also have maximum G's they can handle too. Especially when they're on and working.
     
    tilleroftheearth, Jan 7, 2015
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  12. RCB

    RCB Notebook Deity

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    ;)
    Same goes with you too Tiller; without a chute you can only fall so far before uh oh, oops... ;)
     
    RCB, Jan 7, 2015
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  13. John Ratsey

    John Ratsey Moderately inquisitive Super Moderator

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    I would expect an SSD to survive a severe impact. The computer would crumple on impact reducing the G force on the SSD.

    John
     
    John Ratsey, Jan 8, 2015
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  14. HTWingNut

    HTWingNut Potato

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    SSD much more robust than hard drive. I cringe if I ever accidentally knock over a hard drive and it just falls a couple inches. With SSD it doesn't matter all that much. It would take significant G's to break the solder joints causing failure. Any laptop would be destroyed by the time the SSD would fail.
     
    HTWingNut, Jan 8, 2015
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  15. TomJGX

    TomJGX I HATE BGA!

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    LOL 10char :)
     
    TomJGX, Jan 8, 2015
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  16. tilleroftheearth

    tilleroftheearth Wisdom listens quietly...

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    Just a quick search and the non operating shock resistance of the Intel 730 SSD is 1000G/0.5mS, while the HGST Travelstar 7K1000 series of HDD's is 1000G/1mS.

    Close enough for me to call them both susceptible, even if the notebook would probably be destroyed by then. Depends on the angle of impact and the physical location the SSD is located inside the system, but yeah - you can all keep thinking SSD's are 'naturally' superior.

    If I bump my computer while it's on, I don't worry about an SSD equipped system nearly as much as a HDD based system, I still treat both with kid gloves. If the screen, the keyboard and the M/B self destruct, having the SSD live is kinda moot.


    See:
    http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/solid-state-drives/ssd-730-series-spec.html

    See:
    http://www.hgst.com/tech/techlib.nsf/techdocs/FF05B02FBBBF9E8288257AAF00686AD6/$file/TS7K1000_ds.pdf
     
    tilleroftheearth, Jan 8, 2015
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  17. John Ratsey

    John Ratsey Moderately inquisitive Super Moderator

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    It would be more appropriate to compare the operating G force which is is only 400G/2ms, 225G/1ms for the 7K1000 (still surprisingly high IMO when there is the risk of moving heads hitting spinning platters).

    John
     
    John Ratsey, Jan 8, 2015
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  18. tilleroftheearth

    tilleroftheearth Wisdom listens quietly...

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    John Ratsey, the operating specs clearly show the superiority of the SSD's robustness, no doubt.

    But seeing how similar the non-operating spec's are (and yes, I know that the SSD's are still higher) is the point. They are still physical components thtat are still subject to physics like any other component. Just shows how advanced HDD's currently are, imo.
     
    tilleroftheearth, Jan 8, 2015
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  19. HTWingNut

    HTWingNut Potato

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    And 1000G/0.5ms is still twice as robust as 1000G/1ms. I've seen enough damaged hard drives to cringe even if one falls a few inches. Those heads sit a few nm from the platter surface that even a small imperfection or microscopic piece of dust that makes it inside can be devastating.
     
    HTWingNut, Jan 8, 2015
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  20. Shekelstein

    Shekelstein Notebook Enthusiast

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    Honestly, if a laptop would be falling, I'd be more concerned about many more things than the HDD, it's not uncommon to see the mobo split in 2 parts thanks to a fall, depending from how high it fell and at what angle, plus think of the screen.
     
    Shekelstein, Jan 8, 2015
    #20