this post was submitted on 03 Jun 2024
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Been finding some good deals on 2.5 disks lately, but have never bought one before. Have a couple of 3.5 disks on the other hand in my Unraid server. Wondering how much it matters wether I get a 2.5 or not? What form factor do you prefer/usually go for?

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[–] [email protected] 142 points 5 months ago (14 children)

You'll usually want 3.5" on anything that isn't a laptop for the price and higher max speed

[–] [email protected] 86 points 5 months ago (1 children)

And theoretical reliability. Stuff breaks down quicker at smaller sizes says my lizard brain

[–] [email protected] 39 points 5 months ago (4 children)

Smaller stuff has smaller mass and therefore can be more reliable.

There were portable mp3 players with mechanical hard drives that were reliable despite extreme abuse.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Smaller stuff has to be more complex to get to the lower mass, which is usually what causes the biggest issues. The hdds in those ipods had some extra stuff to make them more reliable, but even then, move them too quickly and they show it.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Smaller doesn't need to be more complex. 3.5" drives weren't more complex than 5.25" drives.

A smaller head means a smaller drive actuator. Less mass and smaller size means it can compensate much quicker in response to vibration detection.

Back when full height 5.25" drives were the norm, you couldn't pick up your PC while running without causing an error. Those tiny CF card sized drives failed but took extreme abuse compared to big drives.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

I tell my wife 3.5" is more reliable but she's not buying it :(

[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Except the mp3 players from Archos, which gave up after setting up. Twice.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Man my 6000 was immortal. Outlived 2 desktop drives and survived a car roll while in use. I was convinced they had made some blood pact with Nokia lol.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I got mine, moved some songs into it and an hour into listening the drive started clicking and the player was dead. Amazon replaced it and it was exactly the same. I forgot what model it was, but the discs were extremely fragile.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

In general laptop drives were a gamble so it's not shocking. I'm curious if I got a later batch or something or just got lucky.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

That was one of those 1 and something inch tiny drives. They were crap

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

Maybe we were talking about different units then - this is the one I had:

https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Archos+Jukebox+Recorder+20+Hard+Drive++Replacement/103263

Standard 2.5" laptop drive 👍

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago

Yes. Mine was tiny.

1000016447

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 months ago

I dunno I RMA'd my Nomad so many times.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago

Oh man, I remember a Philips mp3 player I had for the longest time as a kid. You could hear the little clicks of the hard drive. Lost it on a hike, unfortunately.

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