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Hard disk drive durability?

G

gamepad

Golden Member
How tough are hard disk drives in laptops? I plan on walking moderate distances with my future laptop and am wondering if a solid state hard drive is something I should look into. Is an HDD durable enough for me to walk (and maybe rarely jog) without having to worry?

The backpack will be stored in a laptop compartment of a decent Jansport backpack.
 
Originally posted by: gamepad
How tough are hard disk drives in laptops? I plan on walking moderate distances with my future laptop and am wondering if a solid state hard drive is something I should look into. Is an HDD durable enough for me to walk (and maybe rarely jog) without having to worry?

The backpack will be stored in a laptop compartment of a decent Jansport backpack.
Click to expand...

I am assuming that this walking/jogging will be done with the laptop closed. If yes then you should have almost nothing to worry about. If you are planning on jogging with the laptop open, then I suggest getting either an SSD or a laptop that has a Sudden Motion Sensor in it.
 
Originally posted by: TheStu
Originally posted by: gamepad
How tough are hard disk drives in laptops? I plan on walking moderate distances with my future laptop and am wondering if a solid state hard drive is something I should look into. Is an HDD durable enough for me to walk (and maybe rarely jog) without having to worry?

The backpack will be stored in a laptop compartment of a decent Jansport backpack.
Click to expand...

I am assuming that this walking/jogging will be done with the laptop closed. If yes then you should have almost nothing to worry about. If you are planning on jogging with the laptop open, then I suggest getting either an SSD or a laptop that has a Sudden Motion Sensor in it.
Click to expand...

Cool. Nice to know that I can walk with my laptop without worries.
 
Walking would not be a problem. I travel all over with mine (now on number 6 since 1995) and have never had a laptop HDD failure. I've even dropped one accidentally. No problem. SSD is more rugged (no moving parts) but hugely more expensive.

On the other hand, my brother flies a lot, and was carrying his laptop on the floor of the plane. The vibration resulting from that caused his CPU to loosen, but never bothered the HDD.

The backpack is a good a safe place.
 
Are you planning to be using this as an MP3 of sorts in your backpack? Wherein the laptop is actually running. If so walking should be ok if it's not bouncing but I definitely wouldn't jog with it. This is why alot of MP3's come with the solid state drives. the shock isn't good on hard drives.
 
Why would you be walking around with the laptop on? I can understand moving from one room of the house to another. But why walking around outside with it on? Do you not want to be "unplugged" for the two minutes it will take you to go from the classroom to the cafeteria? 😕

As has been stated, bouncing a running hard drive around is not a good idea. If the laptop is off, or hibernating, then the HD heads are parked and it's not a problem. But with the HD running any bouncing motion could instantly trash your HD (and your data with it).

SSDs are immune to this problem but the cost vs. size ratio stinks ATM.
 
Originally posted by: MichaelD
Why would you be walking around with the laptop on? I can understand moving from one room of the house to another. But why walking around outside with it on? Do you not want to be "unplugged" for the two minutes it will take you to go from the classroom to the cafeteria? 😕

As has been stated, bouncing a running hard drive around is not a good idea. If the laptop is off, or hibernating, then the HD heads are parked and it's not a problem. But with the HD running any bouncing motion could instantly trash your HD (and your data with it).

SSDs are immune to this problem but the cost vs. size ratio stinks ATM.
Click to expand...

I would walk around outside with my laptop on so that I can test wireless network strengths. I did this in college when I had both my MacBook and PocketPC (though their tenures barely overlapped). But my laptop has a Sudden Motion Sensor, so I can move it around with relative impunity.
 
Originally posted by: gamepad
How tough are hard disk drives in laptops?
Click to expand...

Heh!

SOURCE

Heh! Well, I'll tell you what... This [Hitachi Travelstar 7K320] is a tough little critter! 😀

I got home tonight, and the box from Newegg was sitting on the kitchen table. ~Cool

I opened up the packaging and promptly dropped the bare drive on the floor. I dropped it on the counter before installing it - and I dropped it on the floor a second time when I turned my lappy over without having the access door screwed down tight - slippery little suckers, these 2.5" drives!

LoL! It survived all that, and my OpenSUSE install, and here I am... so far, so good!

As soon as I get my docking station, I think I'll drop it a few times too... 😉
Click to expand...

 
as long as the heads are parked, drives can take quite a shock. the instant they are powered on though, they become quite fragile.

I would STRONGLY recommend you standby/sleep your laptop if you're going to be doing anything more than walking from one room to another.
 
Here is an example of a Western Digital Scorpio Black 2.5 inch HD:

Shock (Gs)
Operating (2 ms, read) - 275
Non-operating (1 ms) - 900

Quite a difference between 275Gs Operating and 900Gs Not Operating
This drive also has the " Free Fall Sensor that parks the heads in 200 msec if a fall is detected.

pcgeek11
 
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