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Joined: Jul 2006
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I recently purchased an LAPTOP at Walmart's Black Friday sale. This machine was going for a heck of a deal ($298.00) and I just couldn't let this deal pass me by. The Laptop's MODEL # is G60-519WM and can be viewed at http://www.walmart.c...0#ProductDetailIt came with a 160 gig hard drive and my research shows that it can be maxed out to a 500 gig hard drive. I do music and I also have a small home recording studio where I do demos and small projects. As a matter of fact, I have already installed the following software on this laptop: Band in a box Mega pak 2008. Finale 2007. Audacity. Cakewalk Sonar home studio I know ideally that a laptop with a DUAL CORE processor is a better bet for Music Production but I guess in due time, when I can afford it, I will purchase something with better specs. However, right at this point in time, this HP laptop that I now have is a single core as you would see when the specs are examined. I am also about to max out my ram by installing an additional 1 gig of ram maxing it out to 4 gigs. It came with 3 gigs of ram by the way. My question is this. I want to max out my hard drive by purchasing and installing a 500 gig hard drive. Would y'all advised me to get an RPM 7200 hard drive or RPM 5400 and if so, where do I purchase a good 500 gig hard drive at a good price for this particular laptop? Would an RPM 7200 work well on this laptop and would the optimal hard drive space and optimal ram installed on this laptop compensate (for the time being) for the fact that this laptop runs a single core processor? I would really appreciate your feed back. I do await replies. Thanks very much.
Jacobins
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Having two 7,200 RPM drives in my desktop with a six-year-old 1.8 GHz AMD Athlon is, I think, all that makes it usable for music production work. My next machine will be a dual core at least. Presumably a fast drive will help your situation as well. The extra RAM is a very good thing.
I am very surprised, though, and even a little disappointed on your behalf that after all the discussion, you decided to go with a low-end machine. What processor does it have? The link you provide is incomplete and goes to a blank page.
I think you may be disappointed on your own, especially when there were machines with probably double the performance in the $400-$600 range. By the time you add the drive and other enhancements you will end up having spent nearly as much anyway, and still have only a single processor.
Wishing you the best in the new year,
R.
"My primary musical instrument is the personal computer."
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Hey Ryzzard,
Thanks for your email. The thing is this. I now have an APPLE MAC BOOK so I am good to go in that regard. This particular HP laptop i BOUGHT ON black Friday at Walmart was going for $298.00 and then, I have a Manager friend of mine who works there so he bought it for me for even lesser at a discounted (managerial) price (if you will) and so I in turn ended up paying this Walmart Manager friend significantly less than $298.00. I mean isn't that a good deal? Taking into consideration all other factors. You said that the link I sent didn't open up. Let me paste a document from a walmart website showing the specs on this HP G60-519WM laptop here below:
Item Description: HP 15.6" Pavilion G60-519WM Entertainment Laptop PC:
Intel Celeron Processor 900
Provides 2.2GHz speed, an 800MB frontside bus, and 1MB L2 cache
3GB of DDR2 system memory
Furnishes enough memory for today's demanding applications and can be expanded to 4GB
250GB SATA hard drive, 5400 rpm
Stores up to 71,000 photos, or up to 62,000 songs, or up to 30 hours of HD video, and more
LightScribe SuperMulti DVD optical drive with double-layer support
Plays and creates CDs and DVDs with support for 11 different formats
LightScribe technology etches custom labels right onto LightScribe-ready discs
Wireless Wi-Fi and wired Ethernet
Connect to a broadband modem (cable or DSL) wirelessly or using the wired 10/100 Ethernet port
Also wirelessly connects to a Wi-Fi signal/hotspot with 802.11b/g wireless LAN
15.6" diagonal BrightView widescreen display
Presents 1366 x 768 resolution (WXGA)
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500M (shared) with up to 1309MB of total available graphics memory
Additional Features:
HP Imprint finish in black and silver
56K Modem
Three USB 2.0 ports
VGA, Microphone and headphone ports
6-cell rechargeable lithium-ion battery
Altec Lansing audio
Software
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium, 64-bit edition. To learn more about the features of Windows 7, Click here.
Microsoft Works 9
Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007 Edition, 60-day trial version
Symantec Norton Internet Security 2009, trial version including 60 days of complimentary live updates
HP Software: Help & Support, Advisor, DVD Play, and Set Up
Cyberlink DVD Suite
Muvee Reveal, Adobe Acrobat Reader. HP Games Powered by Wild Tangent
Support and Warranty
1-year limited hardware warranty with toll-free support>
30-day free limited software support with 1-year (from date of purchase) free limited software support with product registration
sO rYZZARD. aNY THOGHTS?
Jacobins
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The only problem I see with this is that you have to find a way of making an exact duplicate of the drive you're taking out and onto the other drive. In many cases, the 'back up' is a hidden partition on the hard drive, so that would have to be copied, as well.
Also, the specs you show indicate that it has a 250 GB hard drive.
What I would do is get a fast, USB 2.0 external hard drive for audio storage, and be done with it.
Gary
I'm blessed watching God do what He does best. I've had a few rough years, and I'm still not back to where I want to be, but I'm on the way and things are looking far better now than what they were!
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Quote:
What I would do is get a fast, USB 2.0 external hard drive for audio storage, and be done with it.
Gary
Good point, that would be my recommendation also. 
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GOT YOUR REPLY and thanks much. i WAS JUST READING a write up on http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/collection/1650/top_10_external_hard_drives.htmland there are so many external hard drives to choose from. I also have an Apple Mac 13 Inch 160 giggs of hard drive 2 gigs of ram. This Mac has a few USB connections and 1 fire wire 400 connection. My HP lAPTOP has 3 USB connections and so, As you suggested a fast external hard drive, I am now looking for a fast one...USB.......preferrably a Terabyte and be done with it. Which external hard drive would you recommend.............for me? One that can last and I intend to take good care of it but peradventure it accidentally falls and hit the ground hard ummm ???? So hit me back soon bro. Thanks much.
Jacobins
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Jah,
What happens is many of these manufacturers will buy drives in bulk from well known drive companies, and then will put them together in their enclosures. SO, you often have no idea of whose drive you're getting.
I've used LaCie in the past, and been happy with them. I've gotten Western Digital drives from them, and been happy. However, they also use Seagate, Toshiba, and others.
So, you can buy a Western Digital or Seagate drive and be assured of getting their product. Others, you may not know.
Gary
I'm blessed watching God do what He does best. I've had a few rough years, and I'm still not back to where I want to be, but I'm on the way and things are looking far better now than what they were!
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Be advised that even though they make huge drives for installation inside laptops, there is a HEAT problem with them.
Most laptops are simply not designed to cool these drives, failure rates have been rather high.
I think you should consider outrigger USB or FireWire drives for more capacity, having lived through installing a larger Hitachi 7200 in a laptop only to have it constantly overheat.
Couldn't work with the thing on my lap without gettihng uncomfortably warm, if not burnt...
--Mac
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So Mr Mac,
You would advise me to purchase an external USB DRIVE FOR THIS HP G60-519WM that I recently purchased at The Walmart Black Friday sale 2009. I keep reading about getting a fast external usb drive and the benefits thereof. Which External drive would you advise me to get................in terms of brand name or whatever? Secondly, if I decide to go with a 500 gig internal RPM 5400 drive instead of an RPM 7200 (which is the maximum this Hp laptop can go up to), HOW ABOUT THAT? or should I stick with getting the EXTERNAL? Preferrably a Terabyte external drive.
Hit me back soon
Jacobins
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Like I said, the heat generated by any large internal drive can be problematic in laptops. That is a function of the drive size more than anything, although the 7200s are likely running a bit hotter than the 54's.
As for a brand name, just pick something well recognized and not at the bottom end of the price range. Not at the topshelf end, either. Something towards the middle price range.
It is a good idea to find out if the USB drive can run okay from your laptop's USB power if at all possible, too. Or get one that has an external power supply of its own. This is especially true for large sizes that spin fast.
For the record, today's 5400 rpm drives are much better at doing audio than in the past. Some of them actually can stream audio equal to or faster than 7200s when in the laptop size rather than full desktop size.
--Mac
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