15. Two Slow Hard Drives, Continued

Using commonly-available drives from the same vendor for our tests permits us to demonstrate how much difference a faster 5,400 rpm drive makes as compared to a 4,200 rpm drive of the same size.

Data transfer rate measurements for a 4,200 rpm hard disk (Hitachi HTS424040M9AT00).

Data transfer rate measurements for a 5.400 rpm hard disk (Hitachi HTS541040G9AT00).

A 5,400 2.5" drive offers data transfer rates up to 13% faster and access times up to 9% faster than an equivalent 4,200 rpm model. Just as 3.5" desktop drives noticeably outpace their 2.5" notebook counterparts, the same distinction also applies to 4,200 rpm 2.5" drives versus 5,400 rpm drives running Windows XP. A notebook boots more slowly and program startup takes noticeably longer. Using two 5,400 rpm drives instead of slower 4,200 rpm models only adds about $100 to the cost of this machine (if that much). Based on the results we observed for both types of drives, the benefits appear to outweigh the costs.

When two ATA drives are installed in the notebook, proper jumper setting for Master and Slave are essential, to permit the BIOS to recognize both drives.

We recommend that whenever you buy an additional drive for your notebook make sure that the device package includes the necessary jumper. This is because both drives in the HP Pavilion dv8000z must be properly jumpered, with one as the master and the other as the slave. The second drive can only be properly installed when it has a jumper to permit it to identify itself as a slave; by default, no jumper identifies the drive already installed as the master.