Help Me Choose: Hard Drive
The hard drive is where the operating system, software applications, files and data are stored on a PC.When choosing storage for your new Dell laptop, you should keep a few things in mind:
- What do I want to do today, next week or even in the next few years from now?
- Plan today for the activities you want to do tomorrow. (If you don’t have a video camera, do you think you will have one at some point?)
- Content keeps growing — new technology will require greater storage capacity.
| Which technology is Right for Me? | 5400rpm | 7200rpm | Solid-State (Available on select systems only) |
| Performance | Basic | Performance | Ultraperformance |
| Capacity( in gigabytes) | 250/320/500/640 | 250/320/500 | 128/256 |
| Durability | Standard | Standard | Highly shock resistant |
| Typical Case Usage | • Web creation • Collecting content • Content viewing | • Creating content • Video editing • Photo editing • Music creation | • Gaming • High-speed applications • Fast boot/resume • Road Warrior |
| How big should I go? | Average file size* | 128GB* SSD | 256GB* SSD | 250GB* | 320GB* | 500GB* | 640GB* | 750GB* | 1.5 terabytes(TB)* |
| Music* | 4 megabytes (MB) per four-minute song | Up to 32,000 songs | Up to 64,000 songs | 62,000 songs | Up to 80,000 songs | Up to 125,000 songs | Up to 160,000 songs | Up to 187,000 songs | Up to 375,000 songs |
| Video in high definition (HD)* | 8.3GB per hour | Up to 15 hours | Up to 30 hours | Up to 30 hours | Up to 38 hours | Up to 60 hours | Up to 75 hours | Up to 90 hours | Up to 180 hours |
| Photos* | 3.5MB per 6 megapixel (MP) image | Up to 36,000 images | Up to 73,000 images | Up to 71,000 songs | Up to 91,000 images | Up to 142,000 images | Up to 180,000 images | Up to 213,000 images | Up to 425,000 images |
| DVD quality movies* | Number of 1.5-hour movies | Up to 37 movies | Up to 75 movies | Up to 66 movies | Up to 94 movies | Up to 133 movies | Up to 185 movies | Up to 200 movies | Up to 440 movies |
Overview