Computers " Buying the Best Hard Drives ( Storage ) Page

Hard  Disk Drives (HDD) are still the slowest part of any computer, with their speed directly related to Motor RPM's and Head design. Their Life ( MTBF ) is directly related to bearing temperature. Therefore I believe in spending about 10%  more and buying a high quality Western Digital  JB series ( the JB means a 8 Mb Cache chip which is only 10-15$ more).  The drive meets the latest IDE DMA5, ATA100 standard  along with a motor speed of 7200 RPM and a buffer cache of 8 Mb.   Go to Price Watch  <<Here>>  and do a search at top by copying and pasting in  WD1200JB.   This is a  120 Gigabyte drive.  You will be buying a OEM drive that comes without colored box and instructions.  An excellent performance review  <<< here>>> .   The 120 Gigabyte hard drive is only $137  from CNET PC, in New York area  <<<here>>> .. 

These 7200 RPM Drives require direct air flow on them for good life,   most expensive modern cabinets have fans mounted in the internal 3 1/2 bays but if yours doesn't here is a  way below that allows mounting in a standard 3 1/2 bay, from  Cyber Guys  <<<here>>>  in  Rancho Cordova,  Calif.  for $9.95, plus shipping and handling. Or Inflow Direct   <<<here>>>  in New Jersey for $11.95  (888)462-7797 .  Inflow Direct and CNET PC carry nice round, low profile,  IDE cables   <<<here>>> .

Technical Specifications • Mounts with existing drive hardware • Requires .625" minimum space between drive rack and inside of computer case  • Includes standard 4-pin power "Y" • Ball Bearing  MTBF 45,000 hours

After you order your new drive and fan   See Partitioning New Hard Drives.

09/18/2004 07:52 -0500