how much disk space do you REALLY need ?

rh71

No Lifer
Aug 28, 2001
52,844
1,049
126
There are dvd burners on the market for as little as $50. What is the obsession with overly large disk storage ?

Do you really listen to all 10GB of MP3s - delete what you haven't listened to in a year. Do you really need more than 20GB to do video editing ? What is the actual amount of diskspace you really need for you to be comfortable ?

I figure... 10GB OS/programs... 20GB Games... 30GB media stuff you use often (mp3s, misc vids)... am I missing something ? Why the need to buy/keep 150GB+ drives ?
 

minendo

Elite Member
Aug 31, 2001
35,560
22
81
My 120gb drive (media drive) is maxed out currently. Only because I have had time to burn the dvds I ripped.
 

MikePanic

Senior member
Apr 5, 2004
913
0
0
i have a 200gig and a 160 ill be sending back for a warrenty replacement

so whats the obsession? i shoot high end digital (canon eos 10d dslr) as well as film cameras (slide scanning can produce huge file sizes) and when i post process large, uncompressed files for large format printing... i can end up w/ 500+ meg files, each one!

so even on a 4gig dvd disk... im only gonna fit 8 photos... thats just not enough... id rather run multiple partitions and keep them on hard drives..

also... i have friends who do movie editing... that just EATS hdd space up
 

Lonyo

Lifer
Aug 10, 2002
21,938
6
81
I have about 150GB total space, using 65 gigs at the moment, and I don't even have broadband (getting that in about 1 month), then I'll use up probably a lot of the extra space with music/films/TV programs/games.
 

MikePanic

Senior member
Apr 5, 2004
913
0
0
^^ should be more specific... even at about 60-85 cents a disk now for dvd's... 8 per disk is just a waste of money for me... when i do fashion shoots im typically shooting 100-150 photos per hour... depending on outfit changes and makeup changes... sometimes more... and when i do event work (i also do photography in the electronic music industry, though not nealry as much now) - i can shoot 4-600 photos in a night... hdd's are just WAY cheaper then dvd media currently
 

LordJezo

Banned
May 16, 2001
8,140
1
0
I have a phobia of deleting things because you never know when you might want to go back and load up that mp3 you havent listened to in years.
 

Ilmater

Diamond Member
Jun 13, 2002
7,516
1
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I use what I have, and I NEED to not lessen it. Most of it is a want. However, I spent LOTS of time ripping all of my CDs to MP3, so I don't plan on getting rid of them. All 80GB of mp3s represent a significant amount of ripping, encoding, listening, and re-encoding any erroneous tracks. Then I have another 40GB of programs. I keep a copy of my Win2k CD in case it goes bad, a copy of my Office 2003 for the same reason, and LOTs of freeware that I keep an an extra HD so that whenever I reformat I can install all of my favorite programs without having to go to their websites to d/l them again. I NEED all 500GB+ of space that I have, and I'll fill up anything more that I buy, and then I'll NEED it.
 

sillymofo

Banned
Aug 11, 2003
5,817
2
0
Because I like to watch the defrag process, OK? If the HDD is too small, there's nothing to watch.
 

loup garou

Lifer
Feb 17, 2000
35,132
1
81
I only have about 200GB of total storage at home (80gb on desktop, 120gb on server), but now that I've started burning dvds I need more space on my desktop for temporary files and now that I'm ripping cd's in lossless wma, I need more space on my media server.
 

Ilmater

Diamond Member
Jun 13, 2002
7,516
1
0
Originally posted by: LordJezo
I have a phobia of deleting things because you never know when you might want to go back and load up that mp3 you havent listened to in years.
exactly
 

bandana163

Diamond Member
Jul 2, 2003
4,170
0
0
I bought two 120GB drives instead of a burner. The next generation of DVD burners is at the door and I don't want to use 4.38GB discs if I could burn 9GB ones as well. HDDs are much more convenient IMO.

Videos take a lot of HD space, stuff just accumulates.
My installed games alone weigh 25GB+, music is about 10GB, TV recordings (series) 50GB+...
 

Electric Amish

Elite Member
Oct 11, 1999
23,578
1
0
Originally posted by: Ilmater
I use what I have, and I NEED to not lessen it. Most of it is a want. However, I spent LOTS of time ripping all of my CDs to MP3, so I don't plan on getting rid of them. All 80GB of mp3s represent a significant amount of ripping, encoding, listening, and re-encoding any erroneous tracks. Then I have another 40GB of programs. I keep a copy of my Win2k CD in case it goes bad, a copy of my Office 2003 for the same reason, and LOTs of freeware that I keep an an extra HD so that whenever I reformat I can install all of my favorite programs without having to go to their websites to d/l them again. I NEED all 500GB+ of space that I have, and I'll fill up anything more that I buy, and then I'll NEED it.

Why don't you just copy the CD's instead of keeping them on a HD? A HD is much more likely to go bad than a CD.
 

StageLeft

No Lifer
Sep 29, 2000
70,150
5
0
I have 15 gigs of MP3s, but other than my operating system and a few games, and software, there is no need for vast amounts of space. Until recently I had 40 gigs, and it was fine, but a HD died, so I bought a new 120 gig, whcih I know will do me for years. 400 gigs? Stop watching porn, and if you say "it's movies". Again, just stop with the porn.
 

nativesunshine

Diamond Member
Jan 6, 2003
3,284
0
0
Originally posted by: LordJezo
I have a phobia of deleting things because you never know when you might want to go back and load up that mp3 you havent listened to in years.

yet it was so easy for you to make me delete everything on my computer last year so you could format it incorrectly only to make it break again later on that summer..

rolleye.gif
 

Coquito

Diamond Member
Nov 30, 2003
8,559
1
0
I enjoy having a true gaming rig. I keep every game I can, installed & ready to go. Alot are even on virtual drives, so that takes up even more space.
 

rh71

No Lifer
Aug 28, 2001
52,844
1,049
126
Originally posted by: cr4zymofo
Because I like to watch the defrag process, OK? If the HDD is too small, there's nothing to watch.
This might just be the best answer yet !
 

nageov3t

Lifer
Feb 18, 2004
42,808
83
91
I have a 250 GB harddrive. I'm using about 100 GB.

I just hate having to shuffle through a stack of DVD's to find one specific MP3 or movie. plus, it's a lot easier to misplace or scratch up a DVD than it is to perma-delete a file.
 

DrPizza

Administrator Elite Member Goat Whisperer
Mar 5, 2001
49,601
167
111
www.slatebrookfarm.com
I like redundancy. Hard drive is a back-up of the CD's (or are the cd's a backup for the hard drive?) Regardless, I also turned all of my cd's into mp3's. Why would I want to delete them?
Besides, they're in a convenient format right now - Soon, I'll be able to burn a 9.4 GB dvd of nothing but MP3's and play it on my dvd player.
 

Mardeth

Platinum Member
Jul 24, 2002
2,608
0
0
At least in europe it costs ~1.5$ for one dvd disc, so its a bit different. I have now a 80Gb hdd that has just been maxed out and now I have to delete files (omg). Im not even an active downloader so I can understand why ppl have 500Gb of space.
 

ThaPerculator

Golden Member
May 11, 2001
1,449
0
0
Do you really need more than 20GB to do video editing ?

Ummm... YEAH....

My editing computer has a 160gb RAID-0 maxed out, and all that is on it is Avid, ProTools, and a couple other editing tools. Digital video/Audio EATS up disk space like no other.

My HTPC has 180GB in RAID-0 and that has been maxed out for about 6 months. All that it does is run Snapstream and it auto-compresses every Tv show I record down to divx overnight. It deletes the really old stuff I don't care about automatically as space is needed to record new shows.

My surfing/gaming/whatever pc has a 120Gb thats about 3/4 full, but honestly it's mostly MP3's.
 

bunker

Lifer
Apr 23, 2001
10,572
0
71
Do you really need more than 20GB to do video editing ?
I'll add a hell yes.

I have 5 miniDV tapes full of my daughter. I transferred them all to disk to take clips and make a DVD. Each tape was 20GB.

I could have just transferred what I wanted to put on the DVD, but it's much easier working with the 20GB files than swapping tapes.