Question for frbdphreak

[HomeyFoos]

I really respect your knowledge on notebooks and was wondering about a couple of things. Recently New Egg dropped the Hitatchi TravelStar 100gig 7200 RPM SATA-only 2.5" hard-drive from their inventory. I had heard there were some noise and heat concerns but am not sure if that was the reason or if it just wasn't selling so well. It was going for $170ish and the next step down (80 gig'er same stats) was $120. Those still remain, but I would REALLY like to 100 or even a 120 gig to upgrade to. Do you have any recommendations or is such a creature going to be more realistic in the near future?

Also, when I do finally upgrade my laptop HD, what is the best program to use to port the contents to the new drive? Symantec Ghost? I've used it before but it's been years and I was imaging Kinko's standard workstations (was a Technology Manager for about 3 years). But since then I haven't messed with it and a few years have passed.

Might you have any suggestions for me? Oh, and thanks for taking the time to answer all these questions from everyone.

 

[fbrdphreak]

The good thing about Hitachi drives is their price and performance. They equal or beat Seagate, and generally at a lower price. The noise is louder than Seagate, but you can download their "Feature Tool" to adjust Acoustic Noise management. This is a value you can set where on one end of the values is supposed to maximize performance, and the other end reduce noise. I tested it at full performance and full quietness with no difference in performance. Setting that value to minimize noise makes the drive much better, just a hair louder than Seagate. I've never had a heat issue with any 2.5" drive. If a laptop is overheating, it isn't the hard drive.
http://www.hitachigst.com/hdd/support/download.htm

As to what drive to get, you can get a Perpendicular Recording 5400RPM drive and it will really feel almost as fast as a 7200RPM drive. The Hitachi 160GB 5K160 and Seagate 160GB 5400.3 will offer very good performance. Higher capacity 7200RPM drives won't hit until sometime early 2007 unfortunately, when PMR hits 7200RPM drives; probably first from Seagate.

Unfortunately high end SATA drives are still scarce from resellers, so prices are a bit inflated.

As for imaging, I'd go with Acronis TrueImage. The software itself is great to use, but more specifically their bootable CD is awesome. You can load all of their utilities (if you purchase their software like Disk Director for partitioning, etc) onto one boot CD and do everything you need from there. That is what I use to image all the drives for HDD testing and I don't even install the Acronis Windows software but once, I use the boot CD every other time. Never had a single problem with it.
Ghost is okay, but I've heard some horror stories about it and I never liked the interface or compatibility. TrueImage recognizes all my SATA drives, external USB drives, everything.

Good luck!

 

[HomeyFoos]

As, always, thank you! Have you seen the 100gb hitatchi for sale anywhere?

 

[HomeyFoos]

Quick update, I found the Hitachi 100gb SATA 150 7200RPM drive at PC Connection for $144. I opted for overnight because it was only $16. Then I found out why. They have a storefront in Texas so I got taxed another $14. Total was $174. Booooooooo, Taxes!!!

Anyway, it will be here tuesday.

 

[Hyperlite]

Originally posted by: HomeyFoos
Quick update, I found the Hitachi 100gb SATA 150 7200RPM drive at PC Connection for $144. I opted for overnight because it was only $16. Then I found out why. They have a storefront in Texas so I got taxed another $14. Total was $174. Booooooooo, Taxes!!!

Anyway, it will be here tuesday.

what machine is this going in? i'm looking for an upgrade for my TM8200 before vista, as i'm afraid a plain old 5400rpm hdd just won't do.

 

[HomeyFoos]

Dell e1705. It works out because I also picked up a SATA 2.5" enclouser made by BYTECC. It has an eSATA out and usb for $30 so that works. I do have a question for anyone who may be able to answer it for me. I'm gonna take the 5400rpm drive out and keep it in this enclosure but earlier I had asked what the best ghosting software would be. I realized that I got an OEM version of Nero with a Lite-On DVD Burner I bought. It has a feature called 'backup' and 'drive backup'. Could I put the 5400 in the enclosure, back it up or drive-back it up to DVD(s) and then slap the 7200 drive in there and restore it, then slap that 7200 rpm drive into my notebook and turn it on?

I hope that doesn't sound ignorant but as I said, I haven't done this in a while.


Thanks,

 

[HomeyFoos]

So, the Hard Drive is on backorder everywhere. I think I'm going to give in and buy the 80gig flavor, though t hat does anger me a bit. I hate it when it says 'in stock' and I buy it and then immediately get an email that says 'Out of Stock ETA:None'. You'd think they could fix the website so my card doesn't carry a charge of $177 for 5 days after I cancel the order. Happened at PC Connection and Buy.com. Out of stock after purchase was made. Booooo!

Anyway, going to buy the 80 gig Hitachi.

 

[HomeyFoos]

Back to PC Connection for the 100GB Travelstar E7K100 SATA Notebook Hard Drive. This is the second generation of this model and it is reflected in the price. $179, $208 delivered, 2nd day. More than I wanted to pay but it's what I want and I need it pretty soon. I called and made them 'promise' me that it was, indeed, in-stock. They did and then took my money. Here's to hoping...

 

[RossMAN]

How difficult is it to upgrade the hard drive?

 

[alimoalem]

Originally posted by: RossMAN
How difficult is it to upgrade the hard drive?

it's not too difficult...i see a lot of people do it. i would think it's the easiest thing to upgrade in a laptop

 

[RossMAN]

Originally posted by: alimoalem

Originally posted by: RossMAN
How difficult is it to upgrade the hard drive?

it's not too difficult...i see a lot of people do it. i would think it's the easiest thing to upgrade in a laptop

I disagree, that would be RAM.

 

[fbrdphreak]

Originally posted by: HomeyFoos
Back to PC Connection for the 100GB Travelstar E7K100 SATA Notebook Hard Drive. This is the second generation of this model and it is reflected in the price. $179, $208 delivered, 2nd day. More than I wanted to pay but it's what I want and I need it pretty soon. I called and made them 'promise' me that it was, indeed, in-stock. They did and then took my money. Here's to hoping...

Let us know how that turns out

 

[fbrdphreak]

Originally posted by: RossMAN

Originally posted by: alimoalem

Originally posted by: RossMAN
How difficult is it to upgrade the hard drive?

it's not too difficult...i see a lot of people do it. i would think it's the easiest thing to upgrade in a laptop

I disagree, that would be RAM.

It generally isn't any harder than removing the HDD in the MSI MS-1029:
http://www.laptoplogic.com/resources/detail.php?id=22

It can get as bad as in the Sony SZ:
http://www.laptoplogic.com/resources/detail.php?id=43

Generally you'll just remove a couple screws to get to the HDD, then a lot of the time the drives are in little metal cages. Again, just a few screws. As with anything, just pay attention when taking it apart and you'll get it back together

Here it is for your 700m:
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins700m/en/SM/hdd.htm#wp1084976

 

[HomeyFoos]

Ya, I was very nervous having 2 drives turn up out of stock. However, I checked the order today and it appears to have shipped on Friday as I received a tracking number. It's at the sorting facility and I guess PC Connection is reputable enough to take them at their word. Should be here tuesday.

The door for the drive is on the side and I assume I just unscrew it and pull the drive out. When putting the new one in, it looks like I would just slide it back in on the track and then just enough pressure to set the pins in the connector. Too bad you can't see them in this config (provided that the 'H' door is where the drive is hiding) but it looks pretty simple.

I need to pick up Acronis and it's like $27 at New-Egg but that is the download. Would I be any better served with the discs paying the additional $10? I would assume that there is no 'New Egg Downloader' that allows me to log in and out of and download this file whenever I need it so my other guess is that the file you download to install can be saved to disc. If I am mistaken, any help would be appreciated.

 

[fbrdphreak]

You should be able to re-download it later if you need to, but I would definitely back up the original files you download.

How much is the package of Acronis TrueImage+Disk Director? A good disk partitioning tool is invaluable to have.

 

[HomeyFoos]

Ya, I need to look into that because my machine has a small partition that I assume is the dell extras like using the dvd player while the unit is techincally off, etc. Not that I would be lost without this feature but if it's all the same, I'll just as soon make arrangements for it since I paid for it. Anyway, I assume with this duo, I would be able to scan the HD and it would detect the partitions, make the images, and apply them to the new drive?

 

[HomeyFoos]

Real quick, I didn't see Disk Director at NewEgg, but they did have 2 software packages that would do images (sortof). They had True Image and MigrateEasy. I assume you would recommend TrueImage, but have you ever heard of MigrateEasy? Sounds more like what I need atm (taking the contents of one drive and putting them on another) and it's a couple of bucks cheaper. It is probably limited in features but Im more looking for fast transfer of the contents as opposed to a wide range of features. This isn't something I find myself doing often.

 

[HomeyFoos]

Wow...

DHL had the 2-day shipping to my front door by this morning. I am shocked. But I'm pretty sure they delivered from the region, thus the tax on the unit. About to pop this in and begin the process, will let other neophites like myself know how hard/easy this was.

 

[fbrdphreak]

Originally posted by: HomeyFoos
Real quick, I didn't see Disk Director at NewEgg, but they did have 2 software packages that would do images (sortof). They had True Image and MigrateEasy. I assume you would recommend TrueImage, but have you ever heard of MigrateEasy? Sounds more like what I need atm (taking the contents of one drive and putting them on another) and it's a couple of bucks cheaper. It is probably limited in features but Im more looking for fast transfer of the contents as opposed to a wide range of features. This isn't something I find myself doing often.

MigrateEasy looks like a more basic version of TrueImage. Just make an image and restore it to another drive. TrueImage is a lot more configurable, but even I don't use those options just yet.

One package you might want to look at is this:
http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/products/powerutilities/

That has MigrateEasy along with some good partition utilities and other stuff.

Acronis offers a package of TrueImage & Disk Director for $79. That might be out of your ball park, but they are a great package. Maybe try to download a demo of each and see which you like?

 

[Golgatha]

Originally posted by: fbrdphreak

Originally posted by: HomeyFoos
Real quick, I didn't see Disk Director at NewEgg, but they did have 2 software packages that would do images (sortof). They had True Image and MigrateEasy. I assume you would recommend TrueImage, but have you ever heard of MigrateEasy? Sounds more like what I need atm (taking the contents of one drive and putting them on another) and it's a couple of bucks cheaper. It is probably limited in features but Im more looking for fast transfer of the contents as opposed to a wide range of features. This isn't something I find myself doing often.

MigrateEasy looks like a more basic version of TrueImage. Just make an image and restore it to another drive. TrueImage is a lot more configurable, but even I don't use those options just yet.

One package you might want to look at is this:
http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/products/powerutilities/

That has MigrateEasy along with some good partition utilities and other stuff.

Acronis offers a package of TrueImage & Disk Director for $79. That might be out of your ball park, but they are a great package. Maybe try to download a demo of each and see which you like?

I'd just like to chime in and 2nd the recommendation to use Acronis TrueImage. I used a notebook IDE to desktop IDE adapter ($5 at Microcenter) along with a desktop IDE to USB disk adapter successfully in the past. I used the clone feature in Acronis TrueImage v8.0 to upgrade a 4200rpm Toshiba drive to a 7200rpm Hitachi drive in my old HP notebook. I partitioned and formatted the new drive first and then used the clone feature to transfer all the data from the old drive. Swapped them out and all was as it was before the transplant. I've been using TrueImage for my desktop and have restored them from images on a few occasions now. It really is an excellent program.

The boot/recovery disc is head and shoulders above anything that Norton has as well.

 

[fbrdphreak]

The boot/recovery disc is head and shoulders above anything that Norton has as well.

Amen. I hardly ever use the Windows-installed program because their boot CD is so excellent. With version 9, you can burn a single CD that has TrueImage, Disk Director, and all of their other little features on the same boot CD.

 

[HomeyFoos]

Friday is payday and I will pick up the suite of TrueImage/DiskDirector and go full-bore.

For now, I have used the Dell Recovery discs and gotten an image on this new HD. I may decide to keep it but I still have not blown away the 5400RPM drive I took out of it. I may want to burn an image of that and continue to use it as I've had a couple if issues. Could have just been the order I installed the drivers. I'm not opposed to blowing it away again, it was really easy, just took a while to format the drive the first time so I won't have that problem again.

On the bright-side, there is zero bloat-ware. You put that stuff on yourself the way Dell configures it. Things are running smooth and there are no conflicts.

The down-side is that I can't get the SB software add-on I paid $25 for to install without a key and they did not print it on the sleeve the disc came in. It's supposed to be on my original invoice so I will have to look through my documentation. There was a tiny bit of confusion of what exactly I had purchased. This only made a difference when installing the drivers. My recommendation is to have your original invoice handy when attempting to do this to avoid any confusion. My invoice is in a box buried in the garage.

The IntelPro/Wireless driver is installed but I did that before the chipset drivers and this has seemingly created a conflict as to which software runs the Wi/Fi. Currently, windows is boss and the Intel/Pro interface is nowhere to be seen. It all works, I just prefer that interface to the XP. It was there before I installed the chipset drivers and gone afterwards. I was planning getting the machine online so I could validate what equipment I had. I have multiple machines, just got impatient looking back and forth. Another great example of what not to do. But that's the point of this place, huh?

Anyway, other than those small issues, the machine runs great. I may reinstall and get it right from go and forget about imaging the old drive. We'll see.

 

[HomeyFoos]

Real quick, could you possibly link me to the Acronis TrueImage/DiskDirector bundle for $79? I looked on their site and they are each $50. I'm not gonna lose it over $21 but if I can save it, why not? It's another $20 I can sink into something else that lights up and blinks.

As always, thanks for any help you have time to provide