Question:
80GB @5400rpm or 100GB @4200rpm
I am looking at buying a notebook very soon but am faced with a dilema. The one that I am looking at does not have a 100GB hard drive with 5400rpm. I am a engineering student so the programs that I need will take up a lot of HDD space. However, the speed with the 80GB is 5400rpm and would be nice. Should I go with the 100GB and just settle for the lower speed or go with the 80GB and just buy an extra HDD when I need the space.
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Re: 80GB @5400rpm or 100GB @4200rpm
I know that there are other computers with the 100GB @5400rpm but the one that I am looking at does not.
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Re: 80GB @5400rpm or 100GB @4200rpm
what programs? IMO things like Matlab will benefit more from the increased speed, and very few programs will need more than 80GB. some huge databases possibly, but little else.
a friend of mine is finishing her masters at MIT, has been using a T42 with a 60GB drive IIRC for all her number crunching.
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Re: 80GB @5400rpm or 100GB @4200rpm
80GB is a lot of space and the 5400 rpm does provide a very nice performance boost over the 4200, but if you need the 100GB drive, and you can wait a little bit longer, then go for the 100GB.
Matt
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Re: 80GB @5400rpm or 100GB @4200rpm
I will be running Matlab, Pro/e, AutoCAD, and possibly Solid Edge. I am also wanting to continue to use this laptop after I graduate. Thanks for your help so far though.
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Re: 80GB @5400rpm or 100GB @4200rpm
go for the 80gb i'd say.
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Re: 80GB @5400rpm or 100GB @4200rpm
what year are you in now? I got a thinkpad 600E starting freshman year, it used Matlab, maple, and pro/E on it with only a 6Gb HDD. Graduated in 03 w/bachelors in MechE, the laptop still runs, though I am sure it could not run the current versions of any of those programs with any type of reasonable speed. So if you will need a laptop to keep working with the latest versions of software, you will probably need to upgrade every 3-4 yrs at most.
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Re: 80GB @5400rpm or 100GB @4200rpm
Another option would be to buy it with the smallest slowest hard drive then upgrade it yourself. You can throw the old one in an external case for extra storage or backups.
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Re: 80GB @5400rpm or 100GB @4200rpm
Frankly...none of those applications are all that hard drive intensive. You won't be doing that much solid modelling I bet, as an engineer.
I use Pro/E on an old IBM thinkpad at work and I'd assume the hard drive speed is probably 4200RPM. No real speed issues.
From my engineering school experience, I don't think you'll notice a difference there. I'd only get the 80GB 5400RPM drive because of other tasks where you might enjoy the speed. Very few of my Pro/E files get all that big. The ones that do are just freaking enormous and I'd have to consider an external drive for those(obviously...at work, I have network storage).
Just because you'll be running those apps at some point in school, doesn't mean you'll be using them that much(assuming you're getting a bachelor's in Engineering...not some 2 year associates "learn how to draw" thing).