[BigMark]

OK, I've already done a search in this forum and got some background info, but this new topic is intended to get the latest word on what is the biggest & fastest hard disk I can get for my PowerBook G3/500.

I'm currently using a 6GB IBM drive and it is far too noisy (I can hear it from upstairs- and it's not the fan), as well as being too small for my needs.

First off, are there any internal notebook drives available at 7200rpm?

Secondly, any internal notebook drives larger than 40GB?

I'm torn between getting as big as possible (70GB+) and having it as an external drive, or getting the largest drive possible to fit inside the PB (40GB ?)

So homey G's....what's the word on the street?

[icruise]

If you can afford it, I would really recommend the 48GB IBM travelstar. It's currently the largest 2.5" drive. It uses new liquid bearing technology so it is very quiet, and it is the fastest internal drive you can get for a laptop, at 5400RPM. The next biggest is a 32GB drive, although there is supposedly a 40GB from Toshiba (?) coming soon. You can find the 48GB IBM for around $450.

[BigMark]

Thanks for the info. I've found the IBM 48GB from Outpost.com at US$429 excluding shipping.

Tempting, tempting....

[blot]

The 40Gb toshiba runs at 4200rpm while the 48 and 32Gb travelstars run at 5400rpm. IBM wins hands down.

[bighead]

You can also put a 48 GB inside of an expansion bay unit (from MCE, @ powerbook1.com) and have 96 GB of internal, battery powered storage in your Pismo. I believe that you can also have one bus-powered FireWire device on each port, so you could also have one 48 GB bus-powered FireWire drive on each plug, and therefore have 192 GB of battery-powered storage on a Pismo. The battery wouldn't last very long, but it is something to consider.

If I am incorrect on the FireWire facts, please feel free to point that out.