[C-Bear]

The OE suppliers of Powerbook hard drives are � I believe � Hitachi, Fujitsu and Toshiba. Are there any confirmed or just generally accepted beliefs about the relative merits or lack thereof of each drive?

[iohead]

Originally posted by C-Bear:
The OE suppliers of Powerbook hard drives are � I believe � Hitachi, Fujitsu and Toshiba. Are there any confirmed or just generally accepted beliefs about the relative merits or lack thereof of each drive?

Here is an "on-paper" comparison:

http://www.kernelthread.com/mac/pb17/diskdrives.html

-A

[C-Bear]

Originally posted by iohead:
Here is an "on-paper" comparison:

http://www.kernelthread.com/mac/pb17/diskdrives.html

-A

That's a good link, I've read it before. What I was focusing on (and in reading my original post I realize that I didn't make it clear) is the manufacturers. If we're talking about the standard 4200 drives available in a given the line, say, the Alu12," is there a hierarchy (legitimate or merely perceived) in the quality of those manufacturers (again: Hitachi, Toshiba and Fujitsu), a particular manufacturers hard drive more (or less) desirable to have received.

[iBorg]

Originally posted by C-Bear:
The OE suppliers of Powerbook hard drives are � I believe � Hitachi, Fujitsu and Toshiba. Are there any confirmed or just generally accepted beliefs about the relative merits or lack thereof of each drive?

No one answered this question 7 months ago, and now I have the same question: each of these 3 manufacturers makes a comparable 80 GB 5400 RPM laptop hard drive, and their prices vary. What are the pros and cons of each brand? If performance is identical, is one brand more reliable? Or more quiet?

Also, is anyone aware of impending 7200 RPM 80 GB portable drives? (If not now, they'll debut about 1-2 weeks after I upgrade to one of these current models from my OEM 60 GB drive for my TiSD book!) I know that a 7200 RPM 60 GB portable drive is available, but I need the higher capacity!

Thanks for any info!



iBorg

[iBorg]

I did find a newer link that had a similar question, but the discussion was limited to 60 GB drives.

Anyone have experience with the 80 GB latop drives?



iBorg

[iBorg]

No one has any suggestions?

Any ideas about the importance of the buffer size? Toshiba has an 80GB notebook drive with a 16MB buffer, the rest are all 8MB - is this significant, or just marketing hype?

I'd appreciate any help!



iBorg

[Talk2Angus]

I would go for the toshiba!
Just my believe in toshiba is the best just cause i like the company and there products are A-grade.

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally posted by iBorg:
No one has any suggestions?

Any ideas about the importance of the buffer size? Toshiba has an 80GB notebook drive with a 16MB buffer, the rest are all 8MB - is this significant, or just marketing hype?

The buffer stores recently- or frequently-accessed data and is *much* faster than the hard drive mechanism, so, depending upon what you're doing, it can be a real performance boost.

The larger, the better.

-s*

[iBorg]

Originally posted by Spheric Harlot:
The buffer stores recently- or frequently-accessed data and is *much* faster than the hard drive mechanism, so, depending upon what you're doing, it can be a real performance boost.

The larger, the better.

-s*

Thx, Spheric, I thought the speed might be better with the Toshiba. Wish I could hear from someone who's bought this for a powerbook, to see if it's as quiet as the competition (Hitachi/IBM and Fujitsu).

The 60 GB 4200 harddrive that came with my 1 GHz Titanium is SOOOO quiet, that I'd hate to add alot of noise to get the speed.



iBorg

[8minute]

I upgraded to a 80G 5400rpm drive when I bought my Rev C PB online. I got a Toshiba drive (MK8026GAX).

I don't really have another PB with a drive from a different manufacturer to compare it to ... so I can't really make any speed comparisions.

But this Tosiba HDD is virtually silent when reading from the disk, and I get no vibrations at all. The left palm rest area does get a little warm after awhile ... not sure if it is a trait of this brand of HDD or the aluminium PB's in general.

To sum it up ... I guess I really have nothing to complain about with the Toshiba. There's basically nothing wrong with it. I guess Mac owners are a kinda picky bunch .... didn't I hear someone quote their mate about why Apple would design a titanium laptop, the response was "Cos only Mac users would care!".

[Lancer409]

as long as they work .. i'm happy with 'em .. any way i can tell what hd my pbook 12 has? ..

[wei]

use the System Profiler, click on ATA, get the model number/name. check it on the manufacturer websites (IBM, Hitachi, fujitsu, toshiba...) for the specs.