Difficult choice

[Carpe_Diem]

A friend of mine wants to buy a basic laptop, a Toshiba-c70d-a-111,
priced 399 euro (same price in dollar?).
The processor is rather "basic".
But he wants to replace the internal disk with the new
"WD Black2" disk (SSD 120GB + HDD 1 TB), price 279 euro/dollar.
Would this be a good combination for 678 euro/dollar??
His alternative is a better laptop (i5 cpu), with a Seagate hybrid disk
(1 TB + 8 GB cache ssd), total price 685/dollar euro.
He doesn't do video editting or other cpu intensive stuff.

 

[Paul]

A friend of mine wants to buy a basic laptop, a Toshiba-c70d-a-111,
priced 399 euro (same price in dollar?).
The processor is rather "basic".
But he wants to replace the internal disk with the new
"WD Black2" disk (SSD 120GB + HDD 1 TB), price 279 euro/dollar.
Would this be a good combination for 678 euro/dollar??
His alternative is a better laptop (i5 cpu), with a Seagate hybrid disk
(1 TB + 8 GB cache ssd), total price 685/dollar euro.
He doesn't do video editting or other cpu intensive stuff.

An alternative, would be to buy a 120GB SSD for inside
the laptop, and an external 2.5" USB hard drive with 1TB
of storage.

Movies can be moved from the 1TB drive, to the 120GB
drive, as needed. Like, going on a trip and wanting to
watch a movie while on the trip.

The external drive can also be used for backups of the SSD.
So if the laptop is lost or stolen, all the files are not lost.

You might need around a 40GB partition for the OS. Which leaves
80GB for movies.

*******

The purchasing method would be:

1) Buy a laptop with 1TB hard drive inside.
2) Buy a USB 2.5" disk enclosure.
3) Buy an SSD 120GB as a separate item (not from the laptop company).
4) Install SSD in USB enclosure. Clone OS from
laptop to SSD.
5) Pull the 1TB hard drive from the laptop. Install
the 120GB SSD. Install the 1TB hard drive in the
new enclosure.

Doing it that way, gives the least profit to the laptop
company. And allows you to shop for the best SSD yourself.

Paul

 

[Carpe_Diem]

Paul schreef op 15/02/2014 12:50:

An alternative, would be to buy a 120GB SSD for inside
the laptop, and an external 2.5" USB hard drive with 1TB
of storage.

Movies can be moved from the 1TB drive, to the 120GB
drive, as needed. Like, going on a trip and wanting to
watch a movie while on the trip.

The external drive can also be used for backups of the SSD.
So if the laptop is lost or stolen, all the files are not lost.

You might need around a 40GB partition for the OS. Which leaves
80GB for movies.

*******

The purchasing method would be:

1) Buy a laptop with 1TB hard drive inside.
2) Buy a USB 2.5" disk enclosure.
3) Buy an SSD 120GB as a separate item (not from the laptop company).
4) Install SSD in USB enclosure. Clone OS from
laptop to SSD.
5) Pull the 1TB hard drive from the laptop. Install
the 120GB SSD. Install the 1TB hard drive in the
new enclosure.

Doing it that way, gives the least profit to the laptop
company. And allows you to shop for the best SSD yourself.

Paul

That's roughly what I suggested him : a 240GB SSD, the Crucial M500
240GB, now priced 129 euro, inclusive transport (price in Belgium).
So he can put a lot of frequently used data on his C: drive (SSD) and
put the less used data (like movies, as you suggest) on an external drive.
Thanks a lot for your reaction.
However, if he really wants to choose only between "the cheap laptop/cpu
+ WD Black2" and "the better one with i5 with the hybrid disk" : which
of these 2 would you prefer?

 

[Paul]

Paul schreef op 15/02/2014 12:50:
That's roughly what I suggested him : a 240GB SSD, the Crucial M500
240GB, now priced 129 euro, inclusive transport (price in Belgium).
So he can put a lot of frequently used data on his C: drive (SSD) and
put the less used data (like movies, as you suggest) on an external drive.
Thanks a lot for your reaction.
However, if he really wants to choose only between "the cheap laptop/cpu
+ WD Black2" and "the better one with i5 with the hybrid disk" : which
of these 2 would you prefer?

This is your better choice.

"His alternative is a better laptop (i5 cpu), with a Seagate hybrid
disk (1 TB + 8 GB cache ssd), total price 685/dollar euro."

It may offer slightly accelerated boot process, due to the 8GB cache.
And for most other purposes, be completely ordinary. Since you
get the i5 processor, there will be fewer doubts later, about
whether the laptop was a good idea or not.

In other words, even if the hybrid disk turns out to be
unsatisfactory, it can be fixed by buying the 240GB SSD for 129 euro.
Whereas, buying the wrong laptop, means starting all over again.

Paul

 

[Carpe_Diem]

In other words, even if the hybrid disk turns out to be
unsatisfactory, it can be fixed by buying the 240GB SSD for 129 euro.
Whereas, buying the wrong laptop, means starting all over again.

Paul

I fully agree.
Thanks again for your reply.
Another friend has an older desktop with an (also older) seagate hybrid.
From the moment he pushes the on/off swich, it lasts less than 25
seconds to get the desktop with all the icons.

 

[Yousuf Khan]

A friend of mine wants to buy a basic laptop, a Toshiba-c70d-a-111,
priced 399 euro (same price in dollar?).
The processor is rather "basic".
But he wants to replace the internal disk with the new
"WD Black2" disk (SSD 120GB + HDD 1 TB), price 279 euro/dollar.
Would this be a good combination for 678 euro/dollar??
His alternative is a better laptop (i5 cpu), with a Seagate hybrid disk
(1 TB + 8 GB cache ssd), total price 685/dollar euro.
He doesn't do video editting or other cpu intensive stuff.

Without knowing which i5 CPU you're comparing it to, I see that that
Toshiba has an AMD E1-2100 APU, which is rated at only 606 on Passmark
benchmark:

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=AMD+E1-2100+APU

That could be enough for basic web-surfing. Regarding the WD hybrid disk
with a 120GB SSD component, that would rule all over the Seagate hybrid
disk with only 8GB of SSD. The Seagate might as well not have an SSD in
this comparison, it's not a comparison. 120GB is the size of my entire
SSD in my laptop, let alone the SSD portion of a hybrid! I think this
would make the greater contribution to the overall speed than the
processor speed would.

Yousuf Khan

 

[Carpe_Diem]

Yousuf Khan schreef op 19/02/2014 20:14:

Without knowing which i5 CPU you're comparing it to, I see that that
Toshiba has an AMD E1-2100 APU, which is rated at only 606 on Passmark
benchmark:

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=AMD+E1-2100+APU

That could be enough for basic web-surfing. Regarding the WD hybrid disk
with a 120GB SSD component, that would rule all over the Seagate hybrid
disk with only 8GB of SSD. The Seagate might as well not have an SSD in
this comparison, it's not a comparison. 120GB is the size of my entire
SSD in my laptop, let alone the SSD portion of a hybrid! I think this
would make the greater contribution to the overall speed than the
processor speed would.

Yousuf Khan

The seagate hybrid (1000GB + 8 GB SSD flashmemory) is now available for
77,95 euro. So I think he will buy a laptop with a better cpu than this
AMD E1-2100 APU, together with this hybrid. Total price : 675 euro.
The 8 GB flashmemory does not work as in a "conventional" SSD. Another
friend already works with such a hybrid and the results are amazingly good.
Thanks for your reaction.