stalk Posted July 16, 2006 Share Posted July 16, 2006 OK, I'll get a laptop from work in September, a HP NC6220. Thing is, I can't install software on it coz my account has no admin rights. I guess it's no problem if I simply shove in another harddrive and install Windows on it, right? What type of harddrive does the NC6220 have? I think it's an IDE one, no SATA, right? Would a harddrive with 5,400 rpm be sufficient or should I get a 7,200 rpm one? If that works, I'm gonna buy a USB soundcard (Maya 44 or something else) and set up a ghetto Final Scratch.Oh yeah, the notebook comes with 1 GB RAM installed. is that enough for a ghetto Final Scratch or should I consider some more RAM as well? The processor is a Pentium M750 with 1.84 or 1.86 GHz. Thanks in advance y'all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monophonic Posted July 16, 2006 Share Posted July 16, 2006 music ish -> 7200rpm or more, dunno about the rest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted July 16, 2006 Share Posted July 16, 2006 1GB of RAM should be plenty, based on posts I've read elsewhere. You should be fine swapping the hard drive too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stalk Posted July 16, 2006 Author Share Posted July 16, 2006 thanks for the replies. So a 5,400 rpm HDD won't be enough? I do have 7,200 rpm drive in my PC and 5,400 wouldn't be that good in a PC but notebooks mostly came with 5,400 rpm drives until lately, I think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liam Posted July 16, 2006 Share Posted July 16, 2006 5,400rpm will be just fine. 7,200rpm is obviously faster, but don't forget that they also generate a shitload more heat, gobble up more power and cost more. If your HP is anything like mine, then it should be a piece of piss to change. Remove a couple or rubber grommits, pull out a couple of screws, slide out the drive. BE CERTAIN TO NOTE THE ORIENTATION as it's possible to put it in upside down and possibly damage some pins. If your HP is the same as mine, there will be a small connector that fits over the pins and interfaces with the laptop via an edge connector (presumably to prevent pin damage). If I recall correctly it's also possible to put this on upside down... just note the orientation of everything really, use a spot of tippex or something to mark "TOP" or similar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stalk Posted July 16, 2006 Author Share Posted July 16, 2006 ah, good one. I think getting the HDD out shouldn't be too hard. I think it's just one panel with two screws or something, won't be too hard. I guess I'll go with a regular 40 GB HDD then. Thanks a lot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liam Posted July 17, 2006 Share Posted July 17, 2006 What's wrong with the old HD anyway? Why not just format and use that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stalk Posted July 17, 2006 Author Share Posted July 17, 2006 I can't format the old HDD coz the laptop is for work with all the software etc. Since I have no admin rights on there, I'll just buy another hard drive, so I can use it privately as well (which I am actually not allowed to, but nobody needs to know) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monophonic Posted July 17, 2006 Share Posted July 17, 2006 i always had problems with my 5400 drive when working with bigger (>5) multitrack projects. they disappeard as soon as i changed it for a 7200... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liam Posted July 17, 2006 Share Posted July 17, 2006 I can't format the old HDD coz the laptop is for work with all the software etc. Since I have no admin rights on there, I'll just buy another hard drive, so I can use it privately as well (which I am actually not allowed to, but nobody needs to know) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> You could always boot over USB2.0? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stalk Posted July 17, 2006 Author Share Posted July 17, 2006 I do have a USB 2.0 drive. It is just as good as a built in hard drive? Like can I access programs just as fast and all? I heard that USB drives are good for storing data but not really for running programs through em.edit: I've always thought DOS doesn't support USB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liam Posted July 18, 2006 Share Posted July 18, 2006 I do have a USB 2.0 drive. It is just as good as a built in hard drive? Like can I access programs just as fast and all? I heard that USB drives are good for storing data but not really for running programs through em.edit: I've always thought DOS doesn't support USB <{POST_SNAPBACK}> You need a mainboard that will boot off USB; I know my laptop does as I left a windows partition on my USB drive by mistake and caused myself much confusion when I booted into it by mistake... my entire system appeared to revert a month or so. Scary when it happens and you don't know why... Now, AFAIK the data transfer rates of USB 2.0 aren't that much lower than ATA133 over IDE; and with a 5,600rpm drive you'll hardly be taxing it. It's perfectly possible and should perform almost as well as an internal drive with the added convenience of not constantly drive swapping... but of course you have to ensure that you don't disconnect it by mistake. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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