2005 Notebook Drive Roundup

Introduction

Over the past few years, a growing chorus of StorageReview readers requesting reviews of notebook drives has emerged. Given the exploding user base of notebook machines, it seemed only natural to extend StorageReview's drive-centric coverage to the smaller, 2.5 inch devices. A few obstacles remained, however. First, we were on the verge of migrating our testing from an older configuration to a newer machine; commencing notebook drive reviews on Testbed3 would have yielded results that would have rapidly become outdated. Second, power consumption remains a key factor in assessing notebook hard drives (and all portable components, for that matter). Testbed4's recent debut coupled with our associated all-new power dissipation measurements, however, has removed these barriers. The time is ripe for some SR notebook drive reviews!

For our purposes, a "notebook-class hard drive" is one featuring a 2.8x4.0x0.4 inch form factor that incorporates 2.5" platters. These drives have traditionally featured a parallel ATA interface arrayed with a 5 volt power line in a 22x2 pin grid. Like their desktop cousins, however, notebook disks are poised for a transition to the serial ATA interface. In addition to unifying electronics, the move to SATA also delivers a single physical connection- the compact data and power connectors found on today's desktop drives fit quite well on the relatively miniscule devices.

Capacity- Due to their diminutive size, notebook drives suffer when compared to desktop models. Smaller platter sizes produce significantly less area on which data may be recorded... today's platters top out at 50-60 GB. In addition, the form factor's slimmer design typically permits just two platters per assembly versus a desktop drive's maximum of four or five.

Speed- Smaller buffers, lower spindle speeds, lighter actuator magnets, lesser transfer rates, and electronics/caching strategies tuned for power-efficient operation rather than raw speed result in notebook devices that yield a noticeably sluggish experience when contrasted with their desktop counterparts. In addition, the aforementioned lower capacities produce volumes that tend to span a 2.5" platter's distance, further slowing things down with physically longer seeks.

Power Consumption- By their very nature, portable machines spend considerable time operating away from A/C power. Power draw of various components becomes a key issue. Though TFT displays suck up the lion's share of electricity, mobile hard drives consume up to four watts of electricity, on par with today's power-saving notebook CPUs.

Heat Generation- Production of heat goes hand in hand with power dissipation. As a hard drive consumes more power, it radiates more heat into the relatively cramped confines of a notebook's chassis. This heat must then be expelled by the machine's fan, which in turn consumes more power and generates more noise.

Noise- Featuring energy-efficient screens, CPUs, hard drives, and other components, the typical notebook machine dissipates less heat as a whole and thus requires lighter airflow. Quieter fans yield a lower total noise floor through which the other major mechanical component, the hard drive, may be heard.

Ruggedness- Notebooks move around far more often than desktops. These systems experience bangs, bounces, and drops that directly channel kinetic force to the hard disk... in many cases while the drive is actively working. Mobile drive designs must provision for shocks to the spindle assembly and for head slaps far in excess of the levels expected in desktop environments.