Which HD better for me? 160GB w7/Free Fall or 250GB regular?

The price will be the same via the Dell site. I'd been leaning toward the 250 just because I'm a guy, and we all want more cylinders, right? But then the shock protection of the FreeFall is a smart idea.

What say you, my learned brethren/sisteren?

My uses: No gaming, no PhotoShop--just lotsa Internet usage, some YouTube, a lot of storing photos.

Thanks for your thoughts!

 

Importance;

Capacity >>> Higher RPM Speed >>>>>>>>>>>>>> Freefall sensor

IMHO.

72oo

 

Don't drop it and get the 250GB. I don't have free fall sensor and have dropped mine and still works. IMHO

 

I would go for the 250Gb 5400rpm drive. It will be substantially faster than the 160gb drive. The 250gb drive has higher data density.

If you need the storage, then you have justified buying the larger capacity drive.

K-TRON

 

Thanks for all the responses!

OK, so I'm flaunting my ignorance, but does higher RPM mean that something in the HD happens faster? I had thought that was true. I had also thought that the greater storage space on the 250 would only mean just that; are you guys saying that it also will make processes happen faster just due to the greater size--despite its lower RPM?

 

+1 for the larger/faster hard drive.

On a side note, free fall is NOT fail-safe. When you drop a notebook, much more things can go wrong, besides the hard drive arm scratching the data. And this feature only works if you drop your notebook while its on. If you drop it while the notebook is off, theres not much difference.

 

You made a mistake in your poll.
It should read 160Gb 7200rpm with free fall
and
250Gb 5400rpm without free fall

They have not made a 250Gb 7200rpm drive yet

Go with teh 250gb 5400, its faster than the 160gb 7200, cause it has higher data density

K-TRON

 

Yea, i was confused about that too.

 

K-Tron: Doh! You're right. Thanks for the heads-up. The problem was that I had the Florida DNC do the poll for me. Ha! (For the other politics nerds here.)

Looks like polls aren't editable.

OK, I'm going for the 250!

Thanks again, y'all.

 

It means the speed at which the platters (disks) spin. When you pack more date in the same area it does not have to spin as fast to be able read/write the DATA. Very stupid example, if we set up a 100 yard race. The participants are picking up strawberry's as they run. Runner #1 runs at 10MPH and has a strawberry every 10 yards. Runner #2 runs at 5MPH but strawberry's are placed every 5 yards. If #1 finishes in 10sec #2 finishes in 20sec. At the end #2 has twice as many. But that is not important, at 10sec they both have the same even though #2 is going 1/2 the speed.

 

What is free fall?

 

Senses in free fall locks heads so no/less damage. Kind of a gimmick. Does not guarantee for much of a drop.

 

well, this sux (look at signature)!! Guess I should have asked first but I had to order in a hurry. I'll just ad another one later on anyway..... rookie mistake!

 

Not sure which you are responding to? If free fall, not going to hurt. If referring to the 160GB @7200 vs 250GB @ 5400, not really a mistake. Many people will still pick that over the 250GB. The read and write speeds maybe the same but... the 160GB @7200 has faster RA and the 250GB @5400 has more space. So it is not about right or wrong it is just a choice they are what they are. Also if 160GB is enough space it does have advantages. So don't sweat it! Sig looks good.

 

Thanks PP - I was just getting the opinion that most would pass on the 160 free fall version. 160 is plenty for me and I was just looking at the choices and thought it looked good - and free fall was a bonus!

Now, if they would just get the darn batteries in and ship me my 1720!

 

So what property of a drive actually determines how fast programs start, and also the read/write. would a 200 GB 7200RPM hard drive be faster than a 160 GB 7200RPM hard drive simply because of its density which i would assume to be greater?

 

yes, a 200gb 7200rpm drive will be faster than a 160gb 7200rpm drive.
Its not because of data density though.
Hitachi manufactures there 7k200 series using two platters. They are able to offer it in 200gb, 160gb, 120gb, 100gb and 80Gb. How do they do it.
The 100Gb uses a single disk, while the 200Gb uses two 100Gb discs.
The 80Gb and the 160Gb drives also use the same discs as the 100gb and 200gb drives do. The heads are limited on the 80 and 160gb drive, so that Hitachi can save on manufacturing costs.
Since all of the harddrives use the same discs, Hitachi only needs one factory to make all identical disks.
When you buy a 120Gb harddrive, you are getting 200Gb of space. The heads have limited movement over the two discs, so that the consumer gets what they paid for.
If you had a clean room, you could open the 120gb drive and make it 200Gb. But nobody has a clean room at their fingers.

As far as speed goes, data density makes a huge difference. This is why a 320Gb 5400rpm drive is the same speed as a 200gb 7200rpm drive.
the 320gb has 120gb more space on the same area of disc.
SInce their is more data on the disc, the heads can read more data from each microinch of the drive.

K-TRON

 

^^ what he said!

 

PowerPack, thanks for that very clear explanation/analogy.

K-TRON: Wow! I'm floored by your insider knowledge of this stuff.

Maybe this should be a new thread, but now that we've established which is faster, I wonder if that extra data density poses any reliability/durability disadvantage over an HD with less density.

One thing that occurred to me in choosing sizes is that if I have a HUGE HD (like 320 GB), I'll start thinking of it and using it as an archive--which it shouldn't be, given the numerous moving parts and relatively short lifespan of any HD. If I "only" have 160 or less, then I'll be forced to back up valuable photo files, etc., on flash drives or CDs.

 

The simple answer is no. The Technology being employed to achieve the greater density is called Perpendicular recording and they use specific materials in the disk (platters) to prevent the stability concerns you have brought up, erasure from thermal heat.

I see your point and won't disagree but would not be a concern of mine. But I would suggest an external hard drive would be a better archiving method than what you have mentioned. HDD's are much larger than flash, and larger and more reliable than CD's. Burnt CD's do fail they are not in my opinion reliable enough to use for critical back ups unless multiple copies are made and that, well that is just to much work. I think the best (for simple/cheap) strategy is if notebook only has 1 HDD, is to get an external so all critical DATA is on both drives. Then the only way you would lose critical DATA is two simultaneous catastrophic HDD failures and that my friend is unlikely. If my HDD were of the same age when they started getting long in the tooth I would cycle out the more heavily used one with a new one further reducing the odds of simultaneous catastrophic HDD failures.

My friend if you feel strongly about not using as an archive decide how much space you need and get two external that will have the same DATA same as above but one extra HDD so a little more expensive but by no means "very" expensive. HDD strategies many more out there.

 

I dont think that a higher density drive will have more problems.
Actually it should be the reverse of what you think.

Since a higher density disk can store more in the same area, a lower rotational speed is needed. Because of this the harddrive platters spin slower and generate less heat.
Heat is the main culprit of harddrive failure, so the cooler the drive, generally the better.
I have some 15,000 rpm sas server drives in my desktop, and they get very hot from the three small disks revolving at such a high rpm.
The reason why server drives last so long, is not because of data density, but because of the motor.
Higher rpm motors are generally more efficient, because a lower resistive load needs to be installed on the motor.

In fact server harddrives have a low density, so you need a lot of them to have a lot of storage.
Here is a general rule:
The faster the rotation of the harddrive, the lower the density of the drive can be.
Since the harddrive platters are revolving so fast, the heads have only that small microsecond to read all of the data in that sector.
The heads of the harddrive have a big job to do, They essentially read all of the data in a sector, revolving at 15000rpm. Imagine trying to do that, it is very hard. Now think of a 5400rpm drive. The drive is spinning 1/3 of the speed, so the heads have 3 times as much time to read the data in that sector of the harddrive. Because the head has more time to read, it can pickup and read 3x as much data in the same amount of time.

Its kinda hard to explain, so I hope this makes sense

Having a larger harddrive will give you an excuse to download more and fill it up, and that is fine. The amount of data on the drive does not really influence how long the drive will last. Its how you maintain the drive which is important.
A disc cleanup and defragment every once in a while will help keep the data in order, helping to put less wear on the drive, and promote its longevity.

K-TRON

 

If there were a way to create a clean room/environment, i'd definity do it. Buy up a ****load of 120gb drives, and then make them into 200gb.

But the cost of the room would definitly outweigh the profit on drives. There's not even that much difference in cost between 120 and 200...so it'd be impossible to undercut them, and still make a good profit. But the idea is cool

 

I wonder who would rent out a clean room to a guy with a bunch of hard drives...

I wonder who even has a clean room...

 

I would get the 250gb, as 7200rpm is faster + a LOT more space
free fall, just keep it secure

 

Free fall technology is a waste as mentioned in other posts.
Free fall works by calculating a 0.1m/sec increase in the gravitation impact on the laptop. This minor increase in gravity, causes an integrated circuit to trip, turning on a solenoid, which forces the heads to the inside of the drive. The response time of a solenoid, is much slower than free fall. It takes about 0.5 seconds for the heads to reach the inside of the disk, which in most cases is not fast enough, and still will result in data loss.

The 250Gb drive is fast and large enough to fit your needs.

K-TRON

 

wow.. that was very good information, thnx K-Tron +1

 

I think samsung is already selling one. I think zepto is offering it as an option.

 

Get the 250 GB drive, they aren't very easy to break in a laptop, and if you do destroy it, the free fall probably won't protect it. Plus, why would you even want to drop your laptop? Just be careful

 

Thanks again to K-TRON, Crimsonman, Sir Travis, et al. I went for the 250GB and will make sure not to take it on the roller-coaster. ;-)

 

Youre welcome,
good luck with the new drive.

K-TRON

 

Im personally a fan of the 250gb 5400rpm drives, best price/performance and space ratio I can think of. I think the 300gb drives may drop in price soon enough to consider one of those next time.

Now that I just got into video editing (well even before then) the extra space is always welcome.

 

http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/Samsung-unveils-2_5___-250GB-7200rpm-laptop-drive.html

 

Okay, yeah we know.
Those drives are not available yet.

The man wanted to know what drive to get now.

K-TRON