Hard Disk Drive

*I am not sure of all the Q's asked about my computer on previous page........

But I hope there's enough info for you to help me.

My hard drive (6GB's) is about dead. I want to have a new one installed with, of course, more GB's. I have gone to the site you recommended - Price Watch - but I am naive (ha-ha!) and confused as to the terms used. Is an EIDE compatable for my computer? Or do I need SCSI? Is USB an external drive? I don't want external. I also have a smaller hard drive, maybe 3 or 4 GB's, and am thinking of expanding on that one too.

The prices are amazing at Price Watch, so I can afford say, 100 GB"S. It seems the more GB's you get, the price gets better. So, I'd also like to upgrade my smaller drive. There was a recall on Western Digital, should I go with another brand for safety?

Can you explain these terms on the example below?

7200RPM

Ultra ATA 100

UATA100

2M Buffer

8.9ms Ave

2MB Cache Bare Drive-oem

These terms have me confused - are higher #'s better, faster, etc. 5400RPM vs. 7200RPM

WESTERN DIGITAL WD1000BB 100GB EIDE UATA100 7200RPM 100GB 2M BUFFER

New factory sealed 100.0gb 7200RPM, Ultra ATA 100, 8.9ms Ave, 2MB Cache Bare Drive-oem- Manufacturer Warranty

Price: $99

MinOrder: 1

Ship 1 : $9.00 - 10.75 UPS ground commercial

Thanks!!!

This question was answered on February 24, 2003. Much of the information contained herein may have changed since posting.

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An EIDE should be compatable with most systems (super old ones will have problems) Unless you really need storage space (mp3's, games, large files, videos) or do a lot of backing up (unlikely), don't waste your money on space you're not going to use If you are a moderate user: light application use, web, email, word processing, presentations, light gaming, etc you will probably be happier with a 20-40gb harddrive.

7200RPM (Rotations Per Minute)- How fast the plates (inside the hraddrive) rotate The higher the faster, the more expensive

UATA100/Ultra ATA 100 - transfer speed, don't remember what this one means, but should be the industry standard right now This is good.

2Mb Buffer/2Mb Cash - allocated space where the current program (process, or a part of something that is currently in use) is stored for faster access Pretty good.

8.9ms ave - Acdess time or seek time, related to speed (average time it takes to find something) Pretty avarage.

It shouldn't matter which brand you pick, but personally I recommend the WesternDigital (as they have great support and very intuitive tools).

About the author

Posted by Alex of Katharine Gibbs School - New York on February 24, 2003

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