[Douglashh]

All other things being equal how much difference will I see between a 5400RPM HD vs a 7200RPM HD?

I primary use is for word processing, spreadsheet work, surfing the web, burning CD's and some digital photo manipulation using PS Elements 4 and Graphic Converter.

Thanks,
Doug

[mduell]

They come out about the same in bulk transfer tests (which is the easiest benchmark to do, and thus the most common), but I notice that the 7200 makes a difference in everyday use. Quicker/faster/"snappier" opening apps/files, creating libraries, etc.

[tooki]

Pretty much what mduell said.

Faster drives make the whole system feel more "snappy".

tooki

[Douglashh]

Thanks again mduell. The reason for the question is that I was planning to buy an iMac Intel 20 but since I already have a Sony 18" LCD monitor with my MDD G4 I am thinking of going the Mac Mini route and save quite a few bucks.

I guess I could get a stackable 7200 HD with the Mini and use that as my startup drive and the internal as a backup.

Would you happen to know if I could take my existing FW HD, an EZQuest Cobra, apart and put the HD in a stackable enclosure?

Thanks,
Doug

[mduell]

Originally Posted by Douglashh

Would you happen to know if I could take my existing FW HD, an EZQuest Cobra, apart and put the HD in a stackable enclosure?

Should work fine. You'll have to reformat it to use it as a boot drive (new format for Intel Macs to boot from with EFI/GUID).

[Douglashh]

Thanks again and again mduell you are a fountain of knowledge and I appreciate you help.

Doug