XPS Spindle question... - Page 2

3 spindle

While this Microsoft guy is obviously an idiot (his choice of handle says a mouthful), there are a small number of people who are seriously looking for 3 spindle systems. Personally, my need is to be able to carry 2 internal batteries with one fixed drive as I move between client sites all day and need as much battery life as I can get.

I've been reading this forum for awhile, and am surprised by how vocal some people are who think that 3 spindle systems are stupid, but dont have a problem with desktop processors in a notebook. Everyone has different needs, me I'm still using my i8000 until I can either get a 3 spindle dell or the dothans ship(which seems to be the most likely of the two).

This wasn't meant to offend, but most people in this forum seem well informed so this anti 3-spindle bias surprises me

lets go? or do i need to call someone to let you come out and play?

I agree with you're comments. There is a definate need for some people to have this ability. That is why my first comments are normally based on the facts for the system, and nothing else. Some people need this capability for their circumstances. There are other options, but they may not match the needs of the person. The facts as I see it are mentioned above in my post. I think it really comes down to the fact of whether the extra 3-4 lbs out weighs the positive impact of have the third spindle. As you mentioned, this is the same thing that applies with putting a desktop processor in a laptop.

Thinking back on the prior posts in this forum regarding 3 spindle systems, I think the majority of criticism came about mainly because you have an idiot like Microsoft, who feels you have to have 3 spindles on a system or you are stupid. Most of the unfounded criticism has been justifiably addressed and directed at Microsoft in response to his drival. This is why I've made it a point to intentional not respond to his useless drival. Like any good fungus or parasite, once the gratification and fortification is gone, the parasite dies and falls off.

The only reason I mentioned him in this thread was to make certain the poster got relavent information and not unfounded juvinile drival.

Timsolo,

FWIW, I have a desktop system here that I use for video (I work in tech support for an NLE developer, who shall remain nameless... ) Anyway, I'm running a Maxtor 5000DV (200 GB, 7200 rpm) off a firewire port from an Audigy card, and I can get real time transitions with DVCam and DVCpro material without dropping frames. I was surprised that it worked (like you and others, originally I was just going to use it for near-line storage) but I gave it a whirl and it's been working. You might want to try it out.

Kevin.

no jayhawk did it to get me going

if people want a 2 spindle system then thats what they will buy but its funny the 81xx or 82xx series notebooks were dells best selling series notebooks ever.

people want 3 spindle systems cause why would you only get a single hd capable system as a desktop replacement. you dont

and a 2nd hd gives you less then a extra pound for double the storage or more

In the words of Robin Williams

Sometimes....

"It's like shooting bullets into a dead horse"

...........

*snickers*

Strangely enough, that's exactly the reason I never bothered with a second HD on mine (Inspiron 8000 at the moment, XPS on the way). Whenever I've looked at getting a second HD in the laptop, the capacity never looked to be worth how much it cost.

If you're using it as a desktop replacement, it's usually cheaper to get a firewire or USB 2 drive. For the same money you can get more capacity (often a lot more, like 200 GB+). Plus, you can daisy chain more than one if that doesn't satisfy your need for storage.

Sure, it's a pain to take with you.... but it's a DTR system so how often are you moving it around anyway? Keep just the essential stuff you need with you on the internal drive, and put all the other data on an external drive.

Works for me at least - but of course YMMV.

As you indicated, one important thing that I've read and researched. USB 2 is actually supposed to be faster, for all intensive purposes, than Firewire. But on test done on External Hard Drives, "Firewire runs faster". Something like 480 USB/400 Firewire???

If you put down money on an external hard drive, pay the extra $20-30 and get the USB2/Firewire option. Test it out and see what works best. The Hard Drive I bought (Western Digital) allows both connections at one time. USB2 for transfer and Firewire for HD control. You can also set it up straight USB2 or straight Firewire. I couldn't tell you if others allow this as well.

This was my reasoning. 60GB, the standard for 7200 is just not reasonable for me. I need like triple that. 60 is fine on the road, but ext HD's are just to cheap to overlook. You can get like 200Gb for the price of an extra 60.

Extra Battery power is another thought, but on a desktop replacement, that's not an issue for me either.

One main advantage that makes a great deal of sense, is if you have a dual boot system, then it is a necessity.

Granted, this is just for my needs.

Agreed. I've seen the same as well - for example, on Lacie's website they have a number of dual standard drives (USB 2 and FW). The spec is 480 MBits for USB 2, and 400 MBits for FW - however, the actual transfer rates they quote are slightly faster for FW. For example:

http://www.lacie.com/products/product.htm?id=10116

Now I don't know why that would be the case, but it seems that's what happens in the real world.

(Also note that the new FW 800 standard kicks the pants off of both - haven't seen if the XPS is a FW 400 or FW 800 port yet...)

FW has lower bus latencies and lower protocol overheads than USB2, so although the speed is slightly slower it uses its bandwidth more efficiently.

If you want disk storage - check out Hitachi's new 7k400 - 400 GB 7200 RPM in a 3.5" form factor. ATA and SATA interfaces.

Not so happy with Maxtor

Just wanted to make a note for everybody - the 5000DV that I mentioned above just died on me last night. And THAT drive was an RMA replacement for another drive of the same model. It's still under warranty so they're sending another one, but I figure going through 2 drives in 9 months is a little high on the old failure rate. One dead can happen to anyone, but two is the start of a trend...

I still think FW drives are a good idea, but I cannot recommend this particular model any longer.

Not surprising. Fortunately I had most of my data backed up, so the damage is just to the hardware and not to my files as well.