How do i know which harddrive will match with my comp.

[Wabster]

Ok, i want a new hard-drive, becuase my old one is so cluttered i can't even deal with it anymore, plus i need a bigger one. I have a gateway, i got it about 3 years ago. Is any harddrive going to fit, or how does this stuff work. Also, what is a good harddrive to get (i'm looking for pretty large), and will i need to upgrade my memory if i get a larger hd??

I'm also interested in a good cd burner (mabye dvd burner also). Anybody know some that don't suck. The one i have now sucks.

Thanks in advance.

[1kewlcivic]

Well, any hard drive should do. I like Maxtor & Western Digital the best. Make sure it is a 7200rpm hard drive. Also, if you're looking for a large one, these 2 are the best to go. Hope That helps you. Also, about the burner. I havew a 8x16x32 Phillips CD Burner. I love it. Phillips is one of the good ones.

[drdingo21]

Depending on how old your computer is you might have to flash the bios... How big is you current drive?
Maxtor is a good harddrive, i don't car for western digtal, ive seen to many break and come up with bad sectors. Any ide harddrive will work with your computer. By far the best place online to buy computer parts at is www.newegg.com They have excellent service and more than fair prices. Heres a link for maxtor harddrives
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?submit=manufactory&catalog=14&manufactory=1304&DEPA=1&sortby=14&order=1
go we are currently useing the 60gigs

Upgrading your harddrive doesn't require a memory upgrade, but it couldn't hurt.

As for the cd burner, right now at my place we have been using cyberdrive for about2 years now. They are great reilable cd burner, and you would be hard pressed to find a bad review abou them anywhere on the internet. And they are cheap to. about $50 for a 32x.
and here is a link for the cyber drives
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?submit=manufactory&catalog=5&manufactory=1580&DEPA=1&sortby=14&order=1

BTW it looks like the came out with a 52x for about $50 thats pretty quick.

[Maxvla]

harddrives are completely independent of the computer. there is no "matching". your gateway probably has about 20gb of storage. i would suggest at least 60-80. i have 120 and its holding me very well. best drives are seagates for quiet operation and western digital for all out performance.

as far as a cd burner forget all other brands. LiteOn is the brand you want. Its the best drive available short of paying twice as much for a Plextor. LiteOn makes all Sony drives, Memorex, TDK, and many many more companies. They basically own the CDRW market. The prices are very nice as well. you could get a 48-52x (top of the line) for around 55 bucks at www.newegg.com :)

you can't go wrong with the LiteOn's. I have a 12x LiteOn that hasn't failed me yet. I plan on upgrading to a 52x LiteOn soon. i wouldn't even give a second thought to any other brand.

[pissedoffsol]

new egg owns!

[Wabster]

my current harddrive is 30 gigs, but when i deleted all my stuff, i still had 15 gigs of shit on it! Its so filled with hidden viruses and all that other shit that gets onto your computer i figure i might as well get a newer, better, bigger harddrive. I'm looking at the link, the 60 gig maxtor looks like a good deal.

Question : What does it mean when it says "OEM drive only"??

I'm also looking at those Lite On cd/rw's, whats the difference between the 54 dollar 52x model and the 60 dollar 52x model... the model # looks the same to me

I guess i have another question, since harddrives are independent from your computer, what about memory.

[Maxvla]

the cdrws are probably the white for 54 and the black ones for 60.

just a different color faceplate. nothing else is different.

oem drive only means you get just the drive. which is all you really want.

memory is very dependant on the motherboard. what kind of slots you have determines what type of memory you can install.

read up in your motherboard manual.

[Wabster]

thanks :yes: