One of the key aspects to consider when purchasing a laptop is customer satisfaction. Consumer Reports is a great place to gather that information. Fortunately I can get these reports from the library, but more often I just get the recommendations from my friend Peter at work. Having just purchased a laptop last week (my selection and considerations blogged here), I was bragging at work and discovered I’d made a critical mistake in my selection.
I had accepted the default hard drive which has a spin time of 5400 RPMs! This is slow and cheap. But for $31 more I could have had a bigger drive with a spin time of 7200 RPMs. This would make all the difference in the world and for so little is a steal. So I grudgingly called Lenovo back and changed my order which means I’ve pushed the delivery time back another week. But I still should have the box before I go visit my new granddaughter Addie.
As explained to me by my dad, a retired test geek from Microsoft, the hard drive speed is the most commonly overlooked aspect by consumers purchasing new computers. And it make a big difference in performance.
The Bis Key Chronicles 
I am not sure what spin time means but my inquiring mind wants to know so I am off to google it. 😉
The faster the hard drive discs spin the faster your search time is. As a hard drive is constantly searching for reference points and data, this adds up to be a significant consideration for laptop/desktop computer performance.
I’m all about speed. This is especially critical at work when I’m running multiple applications for my job. A hangup drives me batty….
Just be aware that a higher speed drive consumes more power. Life is a balance :).
The new solid state drives are the way to go for pure speed but the storage is a little smaller than what I would want in this ipod and video era.
Ed, I compromised and got a 1 GB flash drive for speeding up the startup and commonly accessed stuff and a 100 GB 7200 RPM drive for storage. :o)
I was looking at laptops today — I have a dell laptop and desktop … something very weird happened to my laptop this morning and I decided to puchase another, but then I didn’t – I decided to try to keep this five year old one a bit longer, until I get some other expensive endeavors out of the way – like my trip to Portland Or – won’t I be near you?! Am I remembering right that you are a neighbor to OR — anyway–when I do decide to get a new one, I will remember this advice!
Now, as to your question on the commment you made at my place – what’s next….writing the Surreal Novel …maybe I’ll blog about that…but I also have a big writer’s confernece to attend sometime this spring, and the oregon trip sometime this summer….wheeee! But, my novels – they need my attention!
Looking mighty good to me. It will be sometime later in the year but I will be looking for a new HP.