Laptop HD's...4200? 5400? does it make a diff?

[sciencewhiz]

Originally posted by: dnuggett
And your test assumed the same. You used seek, read and write to show .35 watts lower power usage didn't you?

Not only those, but all the idle states as well. I did not use standby or sleep.

Remember, there are lies, damned lies, and benchmarks

 

[dnuggett]

Originally posted by: sciencewhiz

Originally posted by: dnuggett
And your test assumed the same. You used seek, read and write to show .35 watts lower power usage didn't you?

Not only those, but all the idle states as well. I did not use standby or sleep.

Remember, there are lies, damned lies, and benchmarks

True enough, but unless you have an enourmous amount of expendable cash they are as close as us mere mortals can get to getting a decent idea of what we should expect from equipment before we purchase it.

This hard drive speed/efficiency/battery life discussion has been an interesting one, I know I have learned a little bit and it has forced me to put my thinkin cap on. We will need to link back to this when someone asks this question again.

 

[dejacky]

yes, get 7200rpm laptop drives.

 

[firtol88]

As of this posting the prices are as follows

80 4200 - $205
80 5400 - $283
60 7200 - $235

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?submit=manufactory&catalog=380&manufactory=1984&DEPA=1&sortby=14&order=1

Just get the 7200rpm drive

 

[sunase]

If you haven't heard good feedback and reviews you haven't been listening

You know, you could have posted a link to said feedback as easy as the above snide remark. I googled, checked storagereview, etc and found the feedback lacking so whatever.

I put this argument to rest in a previous thread. The time saved by using a faster drive is greater than the minimal lost battery power. Do a thread search and you'll find it.

Funny you linked to the same review by Tom that I commented on. In that review the 4200rpm drive clearly beats the 7200 rpm drive in battery use. I think the point I made above that Tom doesn't test a new femtohead 5400 rpm drive is valid and that said drive would toast the 7200 rpm drive easily.

Btw, my comment was on power consumption alone. Just you deciding what amount of increased power consumption justifies what amount of performance is stupid. Everyone values these things differently. Personally I find the OS caches and read aheads make the faster drive speed nearly irrelevant to daily use, especially in a laptop which isn't going to be encoding video/etc. Power consumption on the other hand is very important in my book since I use my laptop throughout the day at school and lab.

 

[dnuggett]

I think we all appreciate different opinions Sunase. If you don't like what I posted that's fine.. heck that's even great, I always enjoy the opportunity to learn more from others, however I looked for some knowledge in your post and and was soon dissapointed. My post went further than Tom's Hardware if you continued to read the thread. Also if you stop to think for a second the post you just quoted was from another thread that did include DVD burning hence my recomendation. By all means if faster boot and load times, along with increased efficiency of hard drive use is not your thing, then save the 15 or less minutes on your battery. Personally I like to save my personal time (not the batteries if they don't coincide) during necessities like virus/spyware scanning. These can take forever with a slower drive.

I think the point I made above that Tom doesn't test a new femtohead 5400 rpm drive is valid and that said drive would toast the 7200 rpm drive easily.

That's why if you look at the thread you are quoting from I asked for the model #'s.

You know, you could have posted a link to said feedback as easy as the above snide remark. I googled, checked storagereview, etc and found the feedback lacking so whatever.

Could have yes. But I'm not your personal research king, nor do I want to waste my time looking something up I already know for one person. The majority of people that have posted in the other thread you took this quote from agreed w/ my opinions/facts.

BTW this thread and the other you pulled my quote from include two different types of uses, and two different scenarios. If you are going to pull quotes from other threads it may be a decent idea to consider that first.