Question:
HDD and RAM Questions, I need some help!!!
I have some questions on things I think I know, but want to be sure about, and need some advice on others...any and all help will be most appreciated!!!
First Hard drives:
1. What's the difference between these two drives? I just can't figure it out and one is selling for almost $60 less than the other?
http://www.seagate.com/cda/products/...81,682,00.html
http://www.seagate.com/cda/products/...81,636,00.html
2. Can somebody recommend an 80 or 100GB HD for the W5a. Seagate, Samsung, Hitachi or Western Digital? I want Quiet, efficient and reliable. I'm thinking 5400RPM, but I'm open to 7200RPM if you think this little guy can pull it off.
3. If I buy a high capacity external 3.5" 7200 RPM hard drive that connects via USB 2.0, will it be efficient enough to run applications off of?
now onto RAM:
1. If you had to choose between Corsair and Samsung, what would you go with for both the V6V and W5a?
2. What do you guys think about the Ultra brand memory that tigerdirect sells/carries???
3. Can someone confirm this for me...everywhere I look it lists the memory in these laptops as DDR2 400 or DDR 400 PC3200, how many Pins am I supposed to be looking for, because I've seen 184, 200, and 240 listed under combos of the above ram options. I want to get the right RAM, so am I looking for SO-DIMMs, DDR, DDR2, 400, PC3200??? I thought I needed So-Dimms with 200 pins to be compatible with the W5a and V6V, so what gives? Also, what's the best Mhz rating I can get and stay compatible with both these notebooks? I want to buy 2X1GB sticks for the V6V so It can run in dual channel and be maxed out...and I guess I can only add 1X1GB stick to the W5a, which obviously won't run dual channel with the onboard 256MB, so what's the best Mhz rating to go with for that, It has to stay compatible and run at it's best with the onboard memory though?
Those are the questions, I know It's a lot, but I could really use the help and advice, so If you have the time, please offer your knowledge, thoughts, and/or opinions. :)
OH, one more thing I've asked before but never got an answer too, Did anybody get Microsoft Works bundled with their V6V? Retailers, was their a copy of Works with this model? Thank you :)
Answer:
Re: HDD and RAM Questions, I need some help!!!
I have some questions on things I think I know, but want to be sure about, and need some advice on others...any and all help will be most appreciated!!!
First Hard drives:
1. What's the difference between these two drives? I just can't figure it out and one is selling for almost $60 less than the other?
http://www.seagate.com/cda/products/...81,682,00.html
http://www.seagate.com/cda/products/...81,636,00.html
2. Can somebody recommend an 80 or 100GB HD for the W5a. Seagate, Samsung, Hitachi or Western Digital? I want Quiet, efficient and reliable. I'm thinking 5400RPM, but I'm open to 7200RPM if you think this little guy can pull it off.
3. If I buy a high capacity external 3.5" 7200 RPM hard drive that connects via USB 2.0, will it be efficient enough to run applications off of?
now onto RAM:
1. If you had to choose between Corsair and Samsung, what would you go with for both the V6V and W5a?
2. What do you guys think about the Ultra brand memory that tigerdirect sells/carries???
3. Can someone confirm this for me...everywhere I look it lists the memory in these laptops as DDR2 400 or DDR 400 PC3200, how many Pins am I supposed to be looking for, because I've seen 184, 200, and 240 listed under combos of the above ram options. I want to get the right RAM, so am I looking for SO-DIMMs, DDR, DDR2, 400, PC3200??? I thought I needed So-Dimms with 200 pins to be compatible with the W5a and V6V, so what gives? Also, what's the best Mhz rating I can get and stay compatible with both these notebooks? I want to buy 2X1GB sticks for the V6V so It can run in dual channel and be maxed out...and I guess I can only add 1X1GB stick to the W5a, which obviously won't run dual channel with the onboard 256MB, so what's the best Mhz rating to go with for that, It has to stay compatible and run at it's best with the onboard memory though?
Those are the questions, I know It's a lot, but I could really use the help and advice, so If you have the time, please offer your knowledge, thoughts, and/or opinions. :)
OH, one more thing I've asked before but never got an answer too, Did anybody get Microsoft Works bundled with their V6V? Retailers, was their a copy of Works with this model? Thank you :)
hmmm...
taking things one at a time:
Hard Drive:
1. they seem to be the exact same to me. Is the cheaper one refurbished?
2. I'd recommend Seagate for quiet & efficient. I've got a Seagate hard drive and I almost never hear it. And 5400RPM would be quieter, although 7200 would give you a bit more performance.
3. I'd guess so, but I'm not absolutely sure, as I haven't had any experience with external hard drives
RAM:
1. Either will work fine. Just about all memory brands have a lifetime warrantee, so you're set either way.
2. I haven't heard much about it, but they make lots of peripherals & power supplies. Should be fine.
3. You'll need 200-pin PC2-3200 400 Mhz DDR2 SODIMM memory to match, although 200-pin PC2-4200 533 Mhz DDR2 SODIMM memory will work as well. But if you get the faster memory, you should swap out both memory modules so they're running at the same frequency.
Hope that helps! :)
Answer:
Re: HDD and RAM Questions, I need some help!!!
I'd recommend Seagate, Western Digital and Hitachi. I would stay away from Toshiba and Samsung. I have seen a Hitachi travelstar 60GB 7200RPM for as low as $99. I would go for Corsair, OCZ, or Kingston. But as long as they have a lifetime warranty it doesn't matter too much as long as it's a reliable company that will replace it if it goes out.
Answer:
Re: HDD and RAM Questions, I need some help!!!
1. What's the difference between these two drives? I just can't figure it out and one is selling for almost $60 less than the other?
http://www.seagate.com/cda/products/...81,682,00.html
http://www.seagate.com/cda/products/...81,636,00.html
I couldn't figure it out either at first, until I looked at the data sheets. They're almost identical... the only difference being the power requirements. The ST98823A comes out ahead, although it draws a little more power in standby. Also, the ST9808211A is PATA only, while the ST98823A is also available as SATA.
...thanks Ted, It's strange then that the 8211A HDD is the more expensive one. Since these machines will eventually be given to my parents, the RAM will never be altered or overclocked. I know for a fact that Justin over at Proportable was running a W5a with a 1GB stick in the expansion slot, and other's haven't had a problem either, thanks for pointing that out though. Now that Ive listed the prices, do you have an opinion one way or the other? Just so It's clear, what Mhz rating would be best to add to the W5a's onboard 400? The V6V is compatible with 667Mhz RAM? I know firewire would be better, but USB 2.0 gives me more freedom in my situation. Thanks again though.
No, the V6V will run either 400 or 533 DDR2, not 667. You could install 667, but it will only run at 533 speeds. I'd confirm the max RAM for the W5a with Justin, he knows his stuff. Again, the W5a won't be able to take advantage of anything faster than 400 DDR2.
Given that both Corsair and Samsung a reputable manufacturers (Samsung supplies modules for other memory manufacturers), I'd go the Samsung and save $88 CDN. :)
Firewire would be ideal, but USB2 will work too. I ran a dual G5 powermac at work off an external drive for a week to meet a deadline... the internal system drive picked the worst time to crash, as usual.
Assuming the datasheets on the two Seagate drives are correct, I'd go with the cheaper (and better specced) one and not lose any sleep over it. What I've seen about the new Momentus drives so far has been quite favourable.
Answer:
Re: HDD and RAM Questions, I need some help!!!
You posted while I was still writing that response, I went back and edited it though, so your ego is all good now. Thanks again for the feedback :)
Answer:
Re: HDD and RAM Questions, I need some help!!!
Go with Seagate, they have a massive warantee (5 years from memory?) and very good seek times, I mean if you look at the detailed specs it is easy to compare, type in make, model, then review into google, and check out a couple, I have seen great reviews for segate Momentus (I now have 3X100gb Seagate drives.
Running an external drive for applications, I would not do that, even if your laptop has firewire unless it is a mac I would expect it would have fire wire mini (400) which is the same speed as USB 2.
You should buy a laptop that will run twin HDDs, not many do it, but thats why im getting the W3J... I am buying the HDD enclosure for the optical bay and will be running one of my segate 100GB drives, giving me a total 200gb sorage in a 14'' laptop!! and it is usefull for running large photoshop files you can set the second disc as a scratch disc imprving performance, this set up will run faster than any external drive.:D
Answer:
Re: HDD and RAM Questions, I need some help!!!
Given that both Corsair and Samsung a reputable manufacturers (Samsung supplies modules for other memory manufacturers), I'd go the Samsung and save $88 CDN. :)
In fact, Samsung is the world's #1 memory manufacturer, by far. A lot of it is NAND memory and other non-DIMM memory, but they are generally the market leaders in memory technology.
Answer:
Re: HDD and RAM Questions, I need some help!!!
Alright, sounds good guys. I think I'll go with the 80GB Seagate 5400 RPM drive for the W5a, that should keep things reliable while still offering a nice boost in performance and capacity. Does anybody know what the warranty is that Samsung is offering on their RAM, I can't seem to find it? If It's decent, then I'll grab 2X1GB sticks of 533Mhz So-dimm for the V6V, and 1X1GB stick of the 400 for the W5a.
Anyone else wanna voice their opinions on the Ultra brand of memory that tigerdirect.com/.ca carries? I'm just curious about it.
Check this out, http://www.kanguru.com/flashdrive_max.html
and http://www.kanguru.com/SearchResult.aspx?CategoryID=75
how crazy is that??? Once the price drops enough, and they find ways to stabilize it for even longer periods of time, the potential applications and possibilities are endless...I just had no idea they were already this close. At least this close and public, who knows what the government has it's hands on already!!! :)