[DM-MUG] Internal Hard Drives shopping

[AB]

Victoria,

There's additional specs to look at and compare. One of these I gauged when I bought my 750 GB HDD is RPM, which is simply the rate or (spindle) speed the drive uses to access information, copy, or write information. Another is gauging by reviews if possible how easy the included software is to manage. the western digital hdd I bought came with software which allowed a backup schedule to be set up on a daily, weekly, monthly or custom schedule and it automatically runs. And with those back ups it can either allow select folders or what not. And just to be safe I made sure it was OS compatible. This isn't supposed to be a big deal for hdds since they are supposed to be like USB cables as far as function as long as you buy the one with the specific connector you need. I bought a maxtor and a lacie and they both seemed to die at relatively the same time. Western Digital has a reputation for quality products. I've been happy with mine. 

Also be sure to pay attention to the type of connectior your computer requires. 

3.5" = desktop
2.5" = laptop maybe also iMacs
IDE = older more traditional connectors. the average speed or RPM of most IDE harddrives is 5200.
PATA = the same as IDE
AtA = the same as IDE
IDE/PATA/ATA = the same, it depends on the brand/seller as to how they choose to identify them. During the transition, consumers were getting confused with the package info which is the reason for it having many abrreviations in attempt to distinguish from SATA drives.
EIDE is an enhanced EIDE and Tech shops authorized and certified to work on Apple products assure EIDE works in the same manner as IDE and the differences between IDE and EIDE are minimal if any different at all.
SATA = new connectors (most Macs after 2003 require SATA)
There are connector differences between SATA I and SATA II. be sure to find out which one your computer needs. I believe Sata II is faster.

eSATA = a connector port enabling that drive to be housed in an external hard drive enclosure and connected to an eSATA port on a desktop (or laptop, but I rarely see laptops with an eSATA connection). eSATA is as fast as SATA, and in some cases faster. 

iMac require 2.5 SATA drives i believe, but am not 100% as I can't quite recall all my conversations with authorized/certified Apple Technicians

This is the info I remember off the top of my head. You probably want to do a google image search if you are not sure how the connectors of IDE vs SATA (I and II) vs eSata look.

1 TB drives used to be anywhere from $300 - 500 range. I'm not sure what their prices have come down to. I considered buying one but ended up deciding the 750 GB was sufficient because the difference in price was too much for an extra 250GB. Hard drives touting (or is it tauting) video game performance are usually high end, more expensive, but sometimes worth it if video or gaming intensive work is needed. 

Also if it is an older computer you may want to visit xlr8yourmac.com or http://lowendmac.com/
I use Low End Mac a ton because it's usually written in plain non-techie English and highly resourceful. All computers (rather their motherboards) have a max capacity hard drive size and may not "see" the full size. I mention this because I had an older mac (1999) and found out it could only recognize 132 of a 160 GB hard drive. no big deal, but it can be a waste of money is all I'm saying.


Hope this helps. If you have the model numbers and URLs after you narrow it down I'm sure we could look at them for you can give you a better idea.

After you buy the hard drive, reformat it to your needs and preferences. If you have any inkling you want PCs to be able to access it, use the FAT32 or other windows compatible file formating option. 

--- On Thu, 1/29/09, Victoria L. Herring <VLH at HerringLaw.com> wrote:

> From: Victoria L. Herring <VLH at HerringLaw.com>
> Subject: [DM-MUG] Internal Hard Drives shopping
> To: "MUG Des Moines" <dmmug at dmmug.org>
> Date: Thursday, January 29, 2009, 2:54 PM
> I sent back the Seagates and am now looking at Hitachi 1TB
> drives [Desk, Ultra, etc Star].  On pricegrabber.com I found
> four, all 1TB, 3 of which had 4* reviews so I'd probably
> at least start there. All  three are ATA-300, 7200RPM, 32mb
> buffer..they each have different part numbers.
> 
> How the heck does one, when these specs are all the same,
> decide whether 3 seemingly equivalent drives, all with 4*
> ratings, are different?  And why the price differential?
> 
> The Ultrastar is more expensive but it says it is for
> enterprise use and has a 5 year warranty
> -- Victoria L. Herring, Lawyer, Discrimination/Civil
> Rights, http://www.herringlaw.com;  Travel
> Research/Photography, http://www.JourneyZing.com;   personal
> blog, http://victorialherring.typepad.com/serendipity/  Des
> Moines, Iowa
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