My son'* computer only has 13.6 GB hard drive and his ipod is 30GB. Due to the fact that he shares the pc with his sister, he'* in need of more hard drive space. My questions are:

Is the one in the link a good buy?
Other than maybe increase ram which is presently around 320, anything else you suggest?


http://cgi.ebay.ca/Maxtor-160GB-Fire...QQcmdZViewItem


Thanks.

well if his hard drive is that small...that would pretty much indicate the computer is somewhat old...and it has firewire?

If you want speed, just replace the hard drive with something bigger internally. Its MUCH cheaper per GB and is a good upgrade, also, if the computer will take it, upgrade the memory while you're at it to something above 512mb.

Also. Use newegg.

I have to question the FireWire decision as well. If you don't feel you're up to adding or upgrading the internal HD, at least go USB. You might lose a little in Xfer speeds compared to Firewire, but you'll gain in the Universal-ity of the interface (thus the name Universal Serial Bus).

asssuming the USB ports on that computer are 2.0 USB ports. Then that is not a bad choice. I have the 300gig version of that drive. (My dad has one too). Haven't had any problems and its quite fast.

I am assuming the USB is 1.1 with the size of that drive and the amt of memory. It sounds like the computer was built about..i would say ...2000? 2001? So yeah its POSSIBLE that it has 2.0 but more likely to have 1.1

FRank...can we get a picture of the computer please?

I'm with the guys on questioning if the computer will be able to hook up to the drive. I have a 300gig version of that and love it.

for a 13.6gb hdd, i would guess around 1996. and almost definitely usb1.0 w/o firewire.

I would recommend adding another or replacing the internal drive since usb1.0 was a bit buggy and slow. You will need to look up your systems specs to see if it will support the larger drives or post the make/model here and we'll tell you. There were system chipset limitations back then that might mean you need an IDE adapter card as well to run the newer drives.

There are some pretty good deals for harddrives out there in the 100-160gb range too. Let us know if you need help picking one. plus, between me and others, I'm sure we could come up with a good used drive as well.

Well I used to have a computer from 1999 and it had a 4 gb hard drive, and I had a dell from 2001 and it had a 20 gb...thats where i kinda figured 13 was somewhere in there.

I just wanted to update you on the conclusion to the situation, Michael decided to wait on upgrading the pc he shares with his sister since he found out he has to purchase a laptop when he goes to college next year. Details on the laptop are that he has to purchase it through the school, I guess they get a cut of the profits, and it has to be either a Dell or IBM, so he'* going to wait.

Thanks for your help everyone.