2 hard drives. one for music and the other for documents

W

wjgypsy

New member
I've got a pretty nice computer, well, it does everything I want it to do. But it's only got a 12gb hard drive, so i was wondering how much it would cost to buy an external hard drive (maybe 20gb or more. just depends on what they cost) and how to hook it up.

My computer is an Emachines, pen.II, 650mhz, 196ram windows ME

Thanks

Zeke
 
Zeke,

Your problem is going to be the speed of the interface. You are probably going to need a USB hard drive, but your computer most likely has a USB 1.1 interface which is by all practical applications, slow. USB 2.0 is MUCH faster. I would say that your best bet would be to just replace your hard drive with a newer faster one. You can get a USB 2.0 add in card which will let you use an external hard drive to it's potential.
 
Is there a reason it has to be external? Assuming you have a free bay in there, you can 40-80GB in the $60-80 range.

Slackmaster 2000
 
TimOBrien said:
Yup. Newegg.com is where I got my WesternDigital 80Gb 7200rpm drives with 8Mb cache (fast mothers) for $85.
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I got mine at BestBuy and yes, the 8Meg cache is VERY fast.. Especially in a RAID 0 setup... :D
 
so, should i just get one and put it in a extra slot? I'm not sure if i have one, because i have'nt really give it much thought. If i don't have any extra bay, what all will i need and how much will it cost?
 
BestBuy has a Western Digital 80 Gig for $109.99, and that is all that you will need if you have another bay. If you don't, the only thing you can do is either replace your current drive, which may be a good option anyway, or rig it to hang in the case somehow.
 
From the sound of Zeke's expertise... PLEASE go and have someone install it for you. It won't cost much.

Even better, have them SHOW you how to install a drive. Its easy and you will learn a valuable technical trick that you will be repeating again and again throughout your life.
 
I plan on getting a computer tech to install it. but i think i'm going to have to go with a external one, because i have not other bays. How much space would say, $50 buy?

Thanks

Zeke
 
Zeke - there is no need to go on ebay, if you have a BestBuy nearby. In the past two weeks they have had the following specials on Maxtor Hard drives -

40 gig for $59
80 gig for $69
120 gig for $79

The prices are after mail-in rebates. The best deal is the 120 gig, its a 7200rpm unit with an 8 meg cach. I think you pay $129 and get back $50 in a combo of instant & mail-in rebates.

If there is no Best Buy near you, you can get the same deals at BestBuy.com

The deals change each week, so check the web site. ones that are on special are marked, if you click on the "buy" button next to them it will give you the actual price.

And incidentally, unless your computer has no enternal space for it (unlikely, but emachines are bottom end, so possible), you will want to make your new drive as a seperate data drive, and keep the current drive for your OS and applications.
 
TimOBrien said:
From the sound of Zeke's expertise... PLEASE go and have someone install it for you. It won't cost much.

Even better, have them SHOW you how to install a drive. Its easy and you will learn a valuable technical trick that you will be repeating again and again throughout your life.
Click to expand...

I second this idea because I have an eMachines box for internet and games. I opened it up to put a new drive in there and was a little stimied. Upon consulting the manual, I found that basically the chasis had to be partially taken apart to install the bastard. I am a lazy bitch, so I managed to do it without dismantling the whole thing, but it wasn't fun (or easy). Now, maybe I have a retarded eMachines model, and this isn't the case for most eMachines, but I think maybe having a pro put one in might be a good idea.

Brad
 
I'm not surprised. EMachines (and Dell & Compaq for that matter) are really designed for people who won't be opening up the case. Not to say you CAN'T do it, but (as you discovered) they don't make it easy for you.
 
RWhite said:
I'm not surprised. EMachines (and Dell & Compaq for that matter) are really designed for people who won't be opening up the case. Not to say you CAN'T do it, but (as you discovered) they don't make it easy for you.
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Most of the newer Dells that I have worked with have had at LEAST one 3 1/2" bay for expansin in them.
 
dell

i don't know what dells y'all've been working on, but just about every dell PC (optiplex and dimension) and server (power edge 1300s all the way through the 4-way 6600's) i've worked on in the last 7 years have been a GEM to pop open and work on. everything's modular--lids that rock right off with the press of a button or two, pci bays that pull out as a unit at the flip of a lever, fans that pop out without busting your knuckles.....

if there's one home pc manufacturer who's made great strides in providing an easy to physically upgrade (open and add stuff to) machine, it's dell.


wade

PS--zeke, it's really not hard to add another hard drive, but it's a bit daunting at first. even better than the "have them show you" idea is to have them with you and actually instructing you how to do it, with you doing all of the actual installing. doing always makes a more lasting impression than watching. much like analog recorder upkeep is essential for the tape-head, pc upgrading and maintenance is a skill that every digital studio operator ought to have a handle on.
 
Re: dell

mrface2112 said:


if there's one home pc manufacturer who's made great strides in providing an easy to physically upgrade (open and add stuff to) machine, it's dell.
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If by that you mean makeing their cases out of cheap plastic instead of metal, using cheap plastic buttons so the cases fall open whenever you pick them up, and using drive rails (which should have died out with the 286 AT) for expansion drives instead of screws, then I completely agree with you.
 
Re: Re: dell

RWhite said:
If by that you mean makeing their cases out of cheap plastic instead of metal, using cheap plastic buttons so the cases fall open whenever you pick them up, and using drive rails (which should have died out with the 286 AT) for expansion drives instead of screws, then I completely agree with you.
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I do have to say one thing about those plastic cases, and that is that they do have a metal frame and shielding, and the plastic tends to block a lot of higher frequency noise. On top of that, Dell uses ductwork to reduce the number of fans to keep things quieter, and the plastic rails help isolate drive noise because it's not being mechanically tramsmitted through the case as well. So, all that concidered, it may not be the best way to do it for the computer itself, but in a studio the silence is golden. BTW, I have handled many Dells, and I have never had any cases fall open...
 
"Plastic tends to block high frequency noise"?

I'd like to hear more about that.

And I handled 45 Dells just yesterday alone... (an order of replacement machines coming in for my company).

I guess I should not be too harsh. You could do worse than Dell. But I maintain that any clone you build yourself out of generic parts will be better than any Dell you buy.
 
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