On Jan 26, 2005, at 8:36 PM, Laurent Daudelin wrote:
on 26/01/05 20:46, Scott at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
Good day all,
I am glad this list is discussing hard drives, because I have just
started looking into getting a new one for my Pismo PB.
I am wondering if I ought to replace the internal drive or just keep it
as is and get an external drive.
The current drive is the stock IBM 18GB that came with the Pismo four
years ago, and I don't know any other specs about it (rpm speed or RAM
buffer size).
I am comparing the drive speed rpms (4200 v. 5400 v. 7200) and the RAM
buffer size, which are as small as 1MB or as big as 16MB.
I think for an external drive, faster is better, yet how does the size of the RAM buffer figure into the equation? For an external drive is a larger RAM buffer actually better or overkill and wasteful? Is there a realistic buffer size where effective usefulness "tops out" and any more is just waste?
For an internal drive slower uses less power, yet with a large buffer there is less drive access. So, is there a peak performance combination? Does a faster drive access less? And therefor is more effective? How much more effective is a 2MB buffer v. 1MB, and a 4MB buffer v. 2MB, etc, on up to 16MB v. 8MB? Is all that RAM actually used and effective?
I am looking for the fastest *and* most efficient combination.
I appreciate any facts, opinions, tho'ts, or experiences you'd like to share. Thank you all and have a great day! Scott
"Many things which cannot be overcome when they are together, yield themselves up when taken little by little." --- Plutarch
I'll just say this: having to carry around an external drive is annoying
after a little while, specially if you move around a bit. Plus the added
cost of getting an enclosure. Plus the ridiculous cost if you buy a drive
already in an enclosure. I'd say go for an internal drive. You might thank
yourself you did it...
-Laurent. --
For what it's worth, hard drives are so cheap these days, (average is under $1.00 a gig), that you could do what I do. I have a 120 gig external firewire drive that stays at home. . .it's only there for backup. I've got an IBM 80 gig travelstar in my Pismo as my primary. This way, (gulp), if your PB ever got stolen, you'll at least have the peace of mind that all of your work is safe and sound at home on your backup drive. (yea, it's happened to me before)
Zoltan
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