Buying a Desktop PC? by Logan Rokwild
What to look out for when out shopping for a desktop PC There are numerous factors to consider before you choose the desktop PC that is right for you. Moreover, there is now a wide, almost mind boggling array of choices for the buyer. Hence, it will pay to make an informed decision. ... The minimum your drive should have is 40x recordable speed, 12x rewritable speed and 40x read speed. ... Each CD-RW drive has three speeds mentioned for it – recordable speed, rewritable speed and read speed. ... Recommendation: 17” CRT or 15” LCD Hard disk drive (HDD) Today, most hard disk drives...

How to Select A Hard Drive For Your PC by Peter Dobler
Deciding on the appropriate hard drive is a personal decision made according to an individual’s computing needs. These days, 20 gigabyte, up to 40 gig, 80 gig, 100 gig and even larger are common. When pricing hard drives, it is common to see very little price differences between smaller size... Speed is used to describe the revolution speed of the spinning hard drive. ... The faster the better of course, but check out the price difference when going from a relatively slow hard drive to a faster drive and see if the price difference is really worth it.

Hard Disk Drives: 3.5" or 2.5"? (Part 1) by Jason Busch
2.5" (9.5mm) hard drives have been slowly increasing in demand over the past few years. Prices usually push the consumer into a buying decision, but there are many other factors which have contributed to the desire for 2.5" computer systems. First, let's take a look at some of the myths that... As long as the Data Density and the Spindle Speed are the same, then yes, a 3.5" drive will probably out-perform a 2.5" drive. ... However, you need to ask yourself, do you really need a 120GB hard drive.

Best Computer Upgrades -- Cost verses Value! by John Dow
I do a lot of computer repair work and one of the first questions I get asked (after I fix the computer) is what can I do to improve the performance. I normally clean out all the old temp files and registry entries (two things that slow down a computer) whenever I work on a computer. ... Since disk access is often and files are constantly being accessed and written, the data transfer rate and speed at which the platters spin on your hard drive comes into play. ... One is the type of connection; the other is the speed the hard drive spins.

Advanced Tips on Speeding Up Your PC by Mark Berger
Other then keeping your HDD free of viruses, spyware, and ad-ware at all times, there are other methods for speeding up system speed which you may like to employ. One of these is overclocking. Overclocking is a method of increasing your system speed by increasing the frequency at which your CPU... These files become corrupted when you restart your computer by using the reset button, or by being careless with your hard drive (like not bolting it properly to your case or removing it constantly). ... Running defrags/scandisks will help to improve your hard drive read/write time.

How to Choose a CD, DVD or Hard Drive by Gary Hendricks
There are many devices which can be used to store or write data in your computer system. The options include hard drives, USB/Firewire storage devices, CD writers and DVD writers. Hard drives are a very essential (and delicate) piece of equipment and are a standard feature on most computers. ... Drive Speed: One factor to consider when buying DVD writers is drive speed. ... Drive Speed: For CD writers, you should generally look for a 40X record speed or faster. ... Drive Speed: If data access speed is important to you, you can go for faster SATA drives or SCSI drives.

Buying A Computer: Drives (Part 1): Affordability And Performance Buying Tips by Olan Butler
This article series will be broken down into the following sections: Processor and Memory, Hard Drive and Multimedia Drives, Audio, Video, and Graphics, Data Fax and Modem, and Ports. These articles are about the components of the Compaq Presario SR1617CL-B; however, the knowledge you gain from... Hard Drive and Multimedia Drives: First of all, the hard drive type used most in home computers is the ATA (Advanced Technology Attachment) drive (better known as the IDE drive). ... When someone refers to a hard drive as an ATA drive, it is commonly a Parallel ATA hard drive.

Upgrading The Hard Drive In Your Play Station 3 by Marcus Creyton
Good news for Play Station 3 users: You do not have to settle for the puny 20 or 40 GB hard drive that comes with your PS3. The Play Station 3 allows you to take out and hot-swap your hard drive, and it's not that hard to do. This means that you can upgrade your PS3 HDD to as much as a 200 GB... There are three pages in the manual telling you step-by-step how to upgrade your hard drive, and it also tells you that you will not void your warrantee, unless the new hard drive causes damage to the console somehow, which isn't likely.

Choosing The Best Portable Storage Option For Your PC by Rich Fuller
In ancient times, a few megabytes were considered to be a considerable amount of storage. Transferring data between computers meant carrying around big, goofy floppy disks that weren’t very reliable compared to today’s storage standards. Next the 1.44 megabyte diskettes became the norm for... Your computer’s internal hard drive is one of the last components that has actual moving parts—the read/write head; giving your hard drive a good clout when the read/write head is in operation isn’t recommended if you care about your data’s integrity.

Buying A Computer: Drives (Part 2): Affordability And Performance Buying Tips by Olan Butler
Hard Drive and Multimedia Drives: Today, we will investigate the new SATA drives. This hard drive does not come in the Compaq Presario SR1617CL-B; however, this is one of the technologies that you should be aware of when doing comparison shopping. SATA stands for Serial ATA. ... In summary, although the hard drive manufacturers are excited about SATA, the average home office computer with a single hard drive does not benefit enough to justify the increased cost of the SATA drive. ... The SATA hard drives are designed to deliver 150 Mbytes/sec transfer speed.