seagate 160 gig for $89

I have the opportunity to buy the seagate 160 gig for $89 after rebate. In
comparison the 120 gig is $139. I want to get a seagate drive because I
heard they are very quite, reliable and run cooler than most drives.

The $50 savings for an additional 17 gigs is very tempting.....I don't feel
like waiting for the 120 gig to go on rebate again.

Am I going to run into problems using the 160 gig drive? Won't I just
create a 137 gig partition and be all set? What are the rumors about Tivo
trying to write past the 137 gigs when it fills up? Based on my knowledge
of computers this doesn't seem to make sense to me

Reliability is more important than capacity. Please advise.

Thanks!

Rick

"netnews.comcast.net" wrote
I have the opportunity to buy the seagate 160 gig for $89 after rebate. In
comparison the 120 gig is $139. I want to get a seagate drive because I
heard they are very quite, reliable and run cooler than most drives.
The $50 savings for an additional 17 gigs is very tempting.....I don't feel
like waiting for the 120 gig to go on rebate again.

It's like every other week that they do, you know? I buy 120GB
drives pretty often lately because I don't have PCs that handle
the larger IDE standard, and I've been expanding some TiVo
machines as well. $70 after rebate is the most I'll pay now for
a 120GB drive, and I've seen them for as low as $60. And
in fact, CompUSA had a 160GB for $60 after rebate special
that just ended last Saturday, iirc, so I think that $50 after rebate
120GB drives are not far off.


Am I going to run into problems using the 160 gig drive? Won't I just
create a 137 gig partition and be all set? What are the rumors about Tivo
trying to write past the 137 gigs when it fills up? Based on my knowledge
of computers this doesn't seem to make sense to me
Reliability is more important than capacity. Please advise.

Rumors are just that. I haven't heard anything definite, but if
reliability is so important, wait a week or so and get a 120GB
for your piece of mind and wallet. I often post hard drive
deals here. btw, the Seagates are quiet, but current Maxtor
7200RPM drives are pretty quite and cool as well. They also
have fluid dynamic bearings, and you can make them even
quieter by running a small utility that's free from Maxtor's site.

"netnews.comcast.net" wrote
I have the opportunity to buy the seagate 160 gig for $89 after rebate. In
comparison the 120 gig is $139. I want to get a seagate drive because I
heard they are very quite, reliable and run cooler than most drives.
The $50 savings for an additional 17 gigs is very tempting.....I don't feel
like waiting for the 120 gig to go on rebate again.

It's like every other week that they do, you know? I buy 120GB
drives pretty often lately because I don't have PCs that handle
the larger IDE standard, and I've been expanding some TiVo
machines as well. $70 after rebate is the most I'll pay now for
a 120GB drive, and I've seen them for as low as $60. And
in fact, CompUSA had a 160GB for $60 after rebate special
that just ended last Saturday, iirc, so I think that $50 after rebate
120GB drives are not far off.


Am I going to run into problems using the 160 gig drive? Won't I just
create a 137 gig partition and be all set? What are the rumors about Tivo
trying to write past the 137 gigs when it fills up? Based on my knowledge
of computers this doesn't seem to make sense to me
Reliability is more important than capacity. Please advise.

Rumors are just that. I haven't heard anything definite, but if
reliability is so important, wait a week or so and get a 120GB
for your piece of mind and wallet. I often post hard drive
deals here. btw, the Seagates are quiet, but current Maxtor
7200RPM drives are pretty quite and cool as well. They also
have fluid dynamic bearings, and you can make them even
quieter by running a small utility that's free from Maxtor's site.

What do you mean by the larger IDE standard? 137 meg? I would think if
your PC doesn't support 137 that would be ideal because Tivo doesn't
support it as well. It you set it up on a PC that only recognizes 137 gig
of the drive then you put it in Tivo it should be OK. Maybe the problems
with 160 gig is when you set it up on a PC that recognizes all 160 gigs and
then put it in Tivo. Could also be the swap partition was not increased as
I have read elsewhere. I'd like to only put one drive in because I'm very
sensitive of the noise in my all wood room so I'm leaning toward the 160
gig, but I don't want to have to replace it with a 120 gig if it locks up
further down the road. I also like the fact that the Seagate drives have
shock protection to protect it if it gets banged around.

Thanks for the info about the rebates. This rebate does end at the end of
the week and the 120 gig just ended last week so another 120 gig rebate must
be just down the road.

Thanks.

Rick



"Bao H. Lammy" wrote in message
...
"netnews.comcast.net" wrote
I have the opportunity to buy the seagate 160 gig for $89 after rebate.
In
comparison the 120 gig is $139. I want to get a seagate drive because I
heard they are very quite, reliable and run cooler than most drives.
The $50 savings for an additional 17 gigs is very tempting.....I don't
feel
like waiting for the 120 gig to go on rebate again.

It's like every other week that they do, you know? I buy 120GB
drives pretty often lately because I don't have PCs that handle
the larger IDE standard, and I've been expanding some TiVo
machines as well. $70 after rebate is the most I'll pay now for
a 120GB drive, and I've seen them for as low as $60. And
in fact, CompUSA had a 160GB for $60 after rebate special
that just ended last Saturday, iirc, so I think that $50 after rebate
120GB drives are not far off.


Am I going to run into problems using the 160 gig drive? Won't I just
create a 137 gig partition and be all set? What are the rumors about
Tivo
trying to write past the 137 gigs when it fills up? Based on my
knowledge
of computers this doesn't seem to make sense to me
Reliability is more important than capacity. Please advise.

Rumors are just that. I haven't heard anything definite, but if
reliability is so important, wait a week or so and get a 120GB
for your piece of mind and wallet. I often post hard drive
deals here. btw, the Seagates are quiet, but current Maxtor
7200RPM drives are pretty quite and cool as well. They also
have fluid dynamic bearings, and you can make them even
quieter by running a small utility that's free from Maxtor's site.

I have a seagate 160 running just fine in my SVR3000. Bought it from
Compusa for 89 after rebate. No tricks, no problems. Highly recommended.
As quite as the stock Maxtor.

-Big Daddy

Just got a maxtor 120 for 40 last week...


"netnews.comcast.net" wrote in message
news:[email protected]_s04...
I have the opportunity to buy the seagate 160 gig for $89 after rebate.
In
comparison the 120 gig is $139. I want to get a seagate drive because I
heard they are very quite, reliable and run cooler than most drives.

The $50 savings for an additional 17 gigs is very tempting.....I don't
feel
like waiting for the 120 gig to go on rebate again.

Am I going to run into problems using the 160 gig drive? Won't I just
create a 137 gig partition and be all set? What are the rumors about Tivo
trying to write past the 137 gigs when it fills up? Based on my knowledge
of computers this doesn't seem to make sense to me

Reliability is more important than capacity. Please advise.

Thanks!

Rick

"netnews.comcast.net" wrote
What do you mean by the larger IDE standard? 137 meg?

Yep. I think it's also called BigIDE and LBA48, but not really sure.


I would think if your PC doesn't support 137 that would be ideal
because Tivo doesn't support it as well.

I'm sorry, what would be ideal? I've been getting 120GB drives
because I feel they are ideal for me...best $/GB ratio and 120GB
really is enough per drive for me, nowadays at least.


It you set it up on a PC that only recognizes 137 gig of the drive
then you put it in Tivo it should be OK. Maybe the problems
with 160 gig is when you set it up on a PC that recognizes all 160 gigs and
then put it in Tivo. Could also be the swap partition was not increased as
I have read elsewhere. I'd like to only put one drive in because I'm very
sensitive of the noise in my all wood room so I'm leaning toward the 160
gig, but I don't want to have to replace it with a 120 gig if it locks up
further down the road.

I really don't know. Getting those extra 17GB per drive isn't at all
important to me, so I haven't tried 160GB drives. Obviously, the
ideal size per drive for me would be ~137GB, but we all know
they don't exist, right?


I also like the fact that the Seagate drives have shock protection to
protect it if it gets banged around.

I would have no qualms about using Seagates. But, I feel the same
way about Maxtors and Western Digitals...any modern, major HD
manufacturer would be fine for me. The Seagates and Maxtors are
the quietest, but noise is not a concern for me, only reliability and cost.

I have three TiVo standalones and my goal is to actively use the
two product-lifetime subscribed units and the unsubscribed unit
would be used rarely to record, and mainly as a drive bay machine
for me to swap in full drive sets from the other two machines. I then
would do any archiving with this third machine, which would often
have its cover removed. I need several 120GB drives for this,
and have almost as many as I need now. The next project will
be somehow making the drive swaps easier, yet not have all my
electronics sprawled out everywhere. That's a long-term goal.


Thanks for the info about the rebates. This rebate does end at
the end of the week and the 120 gig just ended last week so another
120 gig rebate must be just down the road.
Thanks.

That's how I feel. Someone just reported they got a 120GB for
$40 recently (after rebate, I'm sure). That's a new all-time low,
but I have no idea where they got it or if they're even telling the
truth. It's not entirely unreasonable considering the prices lately.

Hi. Sorry for the confusion. I only meant it should be ideal if your
intention was to prepare a 160 gig drive for a Tivo. I'm not sure if that's
the case, but I'm trying to figure it out. If I hook up the 160 gig to my
Maxtor Ultra card it will recognize the 160 gig. If I hook up the drive to
my motherboard IDE it will recognize 137 megabytes. I think it will be
better to hook it up to my mother board IDE when I prepare it for my Tivo.
That should simulate the same way the Tivo will see it. Do you agree?

What are you getting for temps with the two drives? Do you have any
additional fans? Thanks.

Rick

"Bao H. Lammy" wrote in message
...
"netnews.comcast.net" wrote
What do you mean by the larger IDE standard? 137 meg?

Yep. I think it's also called BigIDE and LBA48, but not really sure.


I would think if your PC doesn't support 137 that would be ideal
because Tivo doesn't support it as well.

I'm sorry, what would be ideal? I've been getting 120GB drives
because I feel they are ideal for me...best $/GB ratio and 120GB
really is enough per drive for me, nowadays at least.


It you set it up on a PC that only recognizes 137 gig of the drive
then you put it in Tivo it should be OK. Maybe the problems
with 160 gig is when you set it up on a PC that recognizes all 160 gigs
and
then put it in Tivo. Could also be the swap partition was not increased
as
I have read elsewhere. I'd like to only put one drive in because I'm
very
sensitive of the noise in my all wood room so I'm leaning toward the 160
gig, but I don't want to have to replace it with a 120 gig if it locks
up
further down the road.

I really don't know. Getting those extra 17GB per drive isn't at all
important to me, so I haven't tried 160GB drives. Obviously, the
ideal size per drive for me would be ~137GB, but we all know
they don't exist, right?


I also like the fact that the Seagate drives have shock protection to
protect it if it gets banged around.

I would have no qualms about using Seagates. But, I feel the same
way about Maxtors and Western Digitals...any modern, major HD
manufacturer would be fine for me. The Seagates and Maxtors are
the quietest, but noise is not a concern for me, only reliability and
cost.

I have three TiVo standalones and my goal is to actively use the
two product-lifetime subscribed units and the unsubscribed unit
would be used rarely to record, and mainly as a drive bay machine
for me to swap in full drive sets from the other two machines. I then
would do any archiving with this third machine, which would often
have its cover removed. I need several 120GB drives for this,
and have almost as many as I need now. The next project will
be somehow making the drive swaps easier, yet not have all my
electronics sprawled out everywhere. That's a long-term goal.


Thanks for the info about the rebates. This rebate does end at
the end of the week and the 120 gig just ended last week so another
120 gig rebate must be just down the road.
Thanks.

That's how I feel. Someone just reported they got a 120GB for
$40 recently (after rebate, I'm sure). That's a new all-time low,
but I have no idea where they got it or if they're even telling the
truth. It's not entirely unreasonable considering the prices lately.

"netnews.comcast.net" wrote
Hi. Sorry for the confusion. I only meant it should be ideal if your
intention was to prepare a 160 gig drive for a Tivo. I'm not sure if that's
the case, but I'm trying to figure it out. If I hook up the 160 gig to my
Maxtor Ultra card it will recognize the 160 gig. If I hook up the drive to
my motherboard IDE it will recognize 137 megabytes. I think it will be
better to hook it up to my mother board IDE when I prepare it for my Tivo.
That should simulate the same way the Tivo will see it. Do you agree?

It may make no difference, but yes, I would definitely avoid the
IDE card and use the motherboard's IDE instead.


What are you getting for temps with the two drives? Do you have
any additional fans? Thanks.

I'm sure you realize that temperature is dependent on several other
factors, right? Anyway, with two drives in my Philips HDR312,
one 120GB and the other 80GB, the DVR in an enclosed cabinet
designed to hold about 10 components on separate shelves...with a
glass door but no back...on its own shelf (not stacked on another
device), with my A/V receiver 2 or 3 shelves above, and ambient
room temperature at 68-71 F, System Information reports a TiVo
temperature typically between 28-32 C. There is no central climate
output blowing toward the cabinet. The drives are Maxtors; the
80GB is a 5400rpm without FDB, the 120GB a 7200RPM with
FDB. Acoustic management turned completely off on both, and
I replaced the stock TiVo fan with a regular PC case fan, tapping
into the power supply vs. the motherboard fan connector. Finally,
I installed an old CPU HSF on one of the MPEG chips...forgot
which one.

The extra cooling was put in long ago when I lived somewhere
else and noted the temperature in the high 30s-mid 40s C often
due to poor A/C (and my cheapness in the summer). I'm confident
it wouldn't be needed now, though I like the MPEG chip cooled
for peace of mind since it gets very hot. They both do, but I was
not motivated enough to cool both. I only had one HSF fan
around that fit decently...a really old one for a wimpy PC CPU.


Thanks for the info about the rebates. This rebate does end at
the end of the week and the 120 gig just ended last week so another
120 gig rebate must be just down the road.
Thanks.

OfficeMax flyer for my area (check their web site for yours and
call ahead to see if they're sold out) has a Western Digital 120GB
drive with 8MB cache for $50 after two rebates totaling $80. I
am can't tell from the picture online, but I'm confident it is 7200rpm
since I do not think they made 8MB cache drives at 5400rpm.
I'm not sure about FDB, but my guess is that it has that as well
since most drives do now. The sale probably started Sunday
and lasts for a week. Good luck.

Tue, 03 Feb 2004 20:10:40 GMT, suggested:
: Hi. Sorry for the confusion. I only meant it should be ideal if your
: intention was to prepare a 160 gig drive for a Tivo. I'm not sure if that's
: the case, but I'm trying to figure it out. If I hook up the 160 gig to my
: Maxtor Ultra card it will recognize the 160 gig. If I hook up the drive to
: my motherboard IDE it will recognize 137 megabytes. I think it will be
: better to hook it up to my mother board IDE when I prepare it for my Tivo.
: That should simulate the same way the Tivo will see it. Do you agree?

This is logical. The mfstools cannot erroneously write partitions past the
137 GB limit if the drive controller sees the drive as 137 GB.

--
agreenbu @ nyx . net andrew michael greenburg