HDD issue!

Does anyone know what is the difference between a 2.5" external HDD and a 3.5" ?
How much is it usually for an 80GB HDD ? I seldom buy anything from lowyat, its usually done by my brother, but now he's overseas and wants me to get a HDD for him from lowyat and the price is so different in 2 shops.

I've gone thru the pricelist online and Startec sells a 2.5" external 80GB HDD Seagate for RM185 while a 2.5" Seagate desktop freeagent 80GB HDD is sold for RM319 in Compuzone. Im puzzled. HDD with 3.5" costs more though. What does 3.5" mean?



Vista issue!

I'm planning on getting a notebook and I'm quite sure i'll get it straight from the manufacturer aka Dell/Toshiba/HP. However, I've heard that windows vista is not completely stable yet but all notebooks are fitted with vista once it comes out from the factory. Are there many problems regarding hardware and software compatibility with vista? and which brand of notebook do you guys recommend?

Thanks guys in advance!

Simple explanations:
2.5" is notebook harddisk
3.5" is dektop harddisk

Hmm...my brother is using his laptop over there, so does that mean i have to get the 2.5" instead of the 3.5" external HDD?

yes. 2.5in is for notebook. two type of connector, IDE and SATA

vista is pretty stable for normal usage, just bad for gaming. quite resource hungry

1. As shawty said, 3.5" hard disk are used for desktops and also external harddrives. And the 2.5" hard disks are used for notebooks and also external harddrives.

2. Prices quoted as referenced is rm145-rm155 for a 3.5" hard disk and rm185-rm200 for 2.5" hard disk of the same capacity which is 80GB. I am surprised that its rm315?

3. As for reference, I would go for Toshiba because of stability, Hp Compaq because of performance and Dell because of excellent customer service... All three brands are good/excellent, depending on which model u are getting and what your budget is

This post has been edited by a1098113: Jul 18 2007, 04:06 PM

a 3.5" hard drive is a typical hard drive you find in your PC. If you use a 3.5" external hard drive, it will require a power supply, and it would be somewhat bulky to carry around. Whats good however is you can get a more storage capacity for a lower price with 3.5" drives, as well as higher performance.

2.5" drives are usually used for notebooks, and are usually small in size, and require very little power to run. 2.5" external drives mostly do not need external power supplies (USB power is sufficient), and are very handy to carry around. The downside however is it comes with limited sizes (160GB is the largest if i'm not mistaken), and are somewhat expensive considering the fact that they offer low performance, and limited storage space.

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If you're concerned about vista compatibility, you can always request to have WinXP pre-installed from these vendors. Its not a big deal, even Dell still offers WinXP for most of their products.

Do go for the 2.5" hard disk since its meant to be for laptops. ALso do check with your brother about the connector, whether its a SATA or an IDE connector

They all gave u a quick-10sec-need-to-know about HDD.

yeah yeah, and you summed it all up just right, bro thats what we are here for rite, as quick as electrons

but posted at wrong section. Hardware QnA

Ah icic. That clears the air then, now i know what kind of HDD to get.
Its so hard to get laptops with XP instead of vista nowdays, I might get a mac if thats the case haha, cos my cousin is using vista and she says that she is having trouble shutting down her vaio.

ok ill start a post in hardware Q&A after this then. just wanna know, what is IDE and SATA connector? My laptop has a few USB connectors.

This post has been edited by maybebaby: Jul 18 2007, 04:22 PM

that's a problem.. u need to reconfirm back with your brother.. maybe he just wanna use it as an external hdd.. why bother buyer here if he can get it cheaper oversea..

vista.. some of driver really troublesome cause need to search manually and some dint ever exist for vista.. you can buy it then take it to any pc shop(better if they can install for you.. only rm30 the ehem version lor).. as for my boss shop.. we reinstall back acer laptop (celeron m) with xp cause so heavy and laggy if use vista.. need to get the driver on the net.. some of vista driver can use on xp(backward compatible)..

first..
to replace the laptop harddisk or need external hdd?
if to replace the hdd need to confirm using SATA or IDE connector.. otherwise cannot fit..

if for external, searching for IDE hdd n case more cheaper..
usb transfer rate is just the same regardless of hdd speed..
but for future proof.. take SATA..

A Sata connector, how does it look like, you google it. Well it transfers information about 50MB/sec faster than an IDE connector.. An IDE connector has 40 female pins on it i think.. and the data rate is about 100-133MB/sec. Most current notebooks these days run on a SATA connector... there you will have to counter check with your brother, the make/brand of his laptop and post it here, so we could help better. And Also its important whether he is using it as an external drive or for his main drive for the laptop

This post has been edited by a1098113: Jul 18 2007, 04:34 PM