Fushigi
Storage Is My Life
Why can't I get more than 18 months from a notebook HD? The Hitachi 60GB 7200 RPM in my Dell had some bad sectors a couple of months ago. I ran CHKDSK -R to flag them as bad and started watching for signs.
Thursday evening, I notice the distinct chug-chug-chug of retries going on. I got the PC up and copied just about the entire HD to my 'server'. A couple more CHKDSK -Rs later and the machine won't do normal tasks like, say, open Control Panel or bring up Task Manager.
Friday, a vacation day for me, I'm on the phone with Dell's gold support. 15 minutes later, about 6 of which was spent running diagnostics, I got a confirmation number for a replacement drive to arrive at the office on Monday.
This prompted me to want something for official, regular backups. The file server at work would overload if too many people did that, so I wanted something standalone. I decided on a USB-powered 2.5" HD. One with enough capacity to back up my main + my spare laptop (60 + 40GB if both were full). I went hunting online and found an 80GB Samsung unit but no local retail outlets carried it (I wanted to pick it up Friday). At Fry's I found a 100GB Seagate but Fry's still doesn't take American Express so my expensing it at work would be a PitA. Went to MicroCenter and found a 120GB Western Digital for $230 (I, well, work, could have saved about $20 or so buying from a reputable online dealer but the immediate use outweighs the cost difference.). OK, yeah, it's a WD, but work's buying, it solves my immediate problem, and it won't be spending that many hours powered on so I picked it up. I'll tell my manager about it tomorrow when I'm back at the office.
The WD is quiet, practically silent. I certainly can't hear it over my regular PC. There's a blue power/activity light and a connector for an AC adapter in case your USB source lacks sufficient power. It's 5400RPM w/2MB cache. I haven't benchmarked the drive, and don't really plan to.
I like the formfactor. It gets just slightly warm; not that far above ambient room temp. The supplied USB cable is about 18" and uses a mini-USB connector on the drive side. Long enough without being too long. There's a cover over the USB & AC adapter connectors so they're protected from dust, etc. The only gripe I can make so far is really a preference: I'd prefer a built-in retractable USB cable vs. a separate one. That, and they didn't include a carrying pouch.
Thursday evening, I notice the distinct chug-chug-chug of retries going on. I got the PC up and copied just about the entire HD to my 'server'. A couple more CHKDSK -Rs later and the machine won't do normal tasks like, say, open Control Panel or bring up Task Manager.
Friday, a vacation day for me, I'm on the phone with Dell's gold support. 15 minutes later, about 6 of which was spent running diagnostics, I got a confirmation number for a replacement drive to arrive at the office on Monday.
This prompted me to want something for official, regular backups. The file server at work would overload if too many people did that, so I wanted something standalone. I decided on a USB-powered 2.5" HD. One with enough capacity to back up my main + my spare laptop (60 + 40GB if both were full). I went hunting online and found an 80GB Samsung unit but no local retail outlets carried it (I wanted to pick it up Friday). At Fry's I found a 100GB Seagate but Fry's still doesn't take American Express so my expensing it at work would be a PitA. Went to MicroCenter and found a 120GB Western Digital for $230 (I, well, work, could have saved about $20 or so buying from a reputable online dealer but the immediate use outweighs the cost difference.). OK, yeah, it's a WD, but work's buying, it solves my immediate problem, and it won't be spending that many hours powered on so I picked it up. I'll tell my manager about it tomorrow when I'm back at the office.
The WD is quiet, practically silent. I certainly can't hear it over my regular PC. There's a blue power/activity light and a connector for an AC adapter in case your USB source lacks sufficient power. It's 5400RPM w/2MB cache. I haven't benchmarked the drive, and don't really plan to.
I like the formfactor. It gets just slightly warm; not that far above ambient room temp. The supplied USB cable is about 18" and uses a mini-USB connector on the drive side. Long enough without being too long. There's a cover over the USB & AC adapter connectors so they're protected from dust, etc. The only gripe I can make so far is really a preference: I'd prefer a built-in retractable USB cable vs. a separate one. That, and they didn't include a carrying pouch.