Upgrade HDD in dell4550

[dcgilbert]

Hello All, My name is David and I am a rank newbie. I've been doing some research and I'm just about ready to start this project. I could use some advice regarding HDD selection. The current is a WD300BB. Is it a good idea to stay with the "BB" series or could I use the "JB". 6 more megs of cache.
Also, I've down loaded files many times, but this will be my first copy to a CD. The WD data guard utility has been recommended. When I burn the boot file from WD, how can I verify it's a good copy. thanks David

 

[Rick]

There's no reason to stick with BB. JB (years ago) was about the same price and 8MB of cache made a noticeable difference in benchmarks, although you might be hard pressed to see it in real-world use. However, BB and JB aren't really relevant anymore... And there's drives with as much as 16MB of cache now.

I also wouldn't stick with JUST Western Digital. Other brands are just as good - if not better - and I think you should see what's out there. Reviews can be found here: www.storagereivew.com

Storage is cheap these days. That 300BB is a 30GB, yeah? For less than $50, you can get an 80GB and for less than $100, you can score a 300GB. So you should consider what your needs are and will be in the future and buy a drive based on that criteria. Some of the best prices for hard drives in the U.S. can be found here: http://www.newegg.com/ProductSort/Category.asp?Category=15

 

[dcgilbert]

Thanks for your help Rick. Newegg is definitely at the top of the short list. So is it safe to say BB or JB will work? I guess the most important thing to me is making sure the parts I order, for this project, will be compatible with a 5yr. old dell, and I can "monkey see, monkey do" my way thru it. The 120mg is plenty for my needs. David