Computer hard drive buyer's guide

If you've been browsing for a new PC then you'll have seen one of the specs next to every computer is the hard drive.

What's a hard drive?

The hard drive is where your PC will store all the pictures, music, videos, word processing files and other information. It's also where the Operating System is stored. The hard drive is a vital component to get right as it will have a huge effect on the performance of your computer.

There are really two measurements that you'll come across when choosing your computer. They are:

1) Hard drive size, measured in GB (Gigabtyes)
2) Hard drive speed, measured in RPM

There are other stats that you can get into if you really want to roll up your sleeves too. They include the transfer rate, the access times, buffer size and even the decibels a hard drive puts out. Unless you're a real computer boffin though, that level of research really isn't necessary *. Size and speed are your main concerns and those figures are easy to find on any PC retailer's site.

* If you do want to find out more about the hard drive that's inside the PC you're looking for then you likely won't find it at the PC seller's website. In this case, go to google and search for the manufacturer. Then search for the model name on their site. You can normally find the specs on hard drive and other details that way.

Size!

Hard drive size is the statistic that manufacturers harp on about the most. 100GB, 200GB, 500GB and beyond. The bigger the hard drive, the more you can store on it.

What size do I need?

If you're new to computing then you might think that a 60GB hard drive seems small by today's standards. But it's important to realize how HUGE a 60GB hard drive actually is. That's 60 thousand megabytes! My first PC had a hard drive of 40 MEGABYTES and I managed perfectly well.

Unless you're going to spend every waking hour downloading and keeping every movie you can find online, you'd have to really struggle to overfill a 60BG hard drive. As a rough guide, a single Gigabyte can store:

65 thousand Word processing files
100 thousand emails
20 thousand pictures
1 high quality movie
About 3 episodes of a TV show

Speed

Most hard drives today are at 7200rpm. This is an average speed that you should look for. Anything above is a plus but of course with speed comes more heat and more noise. Not to mention more expense. So these are all things to take into consideration.

Here's a great video on hard drives and what to look for: