Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!iuvax!purdue!gatech!ncsuvx!shumv1!unkydave
From: unkydave@shumv1.uucp (David Bank)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: To run or not to run laptop hard disk???
Keywords: laptop hard disk
Message-ID: <4271@ncsuvx.ncsu.edu>
Date: 22 Oct 89 19:59:13 GMT
References: <11011@phoenix.Princeton.EDU>
Sender: news@ncsuvx.ncsu.edu
Reply-To: unkydave@shumv1.ncsu.edu (David Bank)
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Organization: NCSU Computing Center
Lines: 38

In article <11011@phoenix.Princeton.EDU> mrwittma@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (Martin R. Wittmann) writes:
>I have heard the arguments for and against leaving a PC's hard disk
>spinning all the time (to spare it the high stresses of powering up).
>And I buy them.  My lab PC HD has been spinning constantly for almost 4
>years, without any trouble (good ol' Seagate 225!).
>
>However, I am wondering if the same applies to laptops.  Why wouldn't
>it?  Well, I presume it's HD is designed to take more bumps and shocks
>and perhaps start-ups and power-downs than a desk model HD, but it might
>not be designed to spin on a desk day in and day out (as mine currently
>does... and it is making more noise than it used to!!!).
>
>What is the general collective experience on laptop HD reliability?
>
>Thanks,					martin wittmann


    Our current software contractor has a Toshiba laptop with a
20 MB (I think) hard drive. He has dropped the unit repeatedly,
banged it around, and even leaves it in the trunk of his car
on long road trips. All of this, of course, AFTER it has been
turned off.

    Any decent laptop manufacturer will only put in a hard drive
made to take the shocks and bumps and general abuse these little
souls of computing take. This doesn't mean you can drop it from
your 9th story window because your Zork character died, but if it
slips off your shoulder and onto the sidewalk it shouldn't bother
it.

    So....in general laptop hard drives (i.e. ones that the builder
of the laptop SPECIFICALLY recommends for installation in their machine)
are, bye and large, able to take what you dish out. Mind you this
refers to a powered-down state. All bets are off if you drop it while
the drive is spinning and powered up. 

Unky Dave
unkydave@shumv1.ncsu.edu