Hard Drive Question

kenezzite · April 5th, 2005, 03:38 PM

I bought a new computer, Sony Vaio. But my compacityis 227MB, on the computer there is a label that says that the HardDrive is 250MB, what a lie. Now why would they do that? I'm thinking of buy the 400MB HD, now is it going to be 370MB or something like that? Why?

andyhui01 · April 5th, 2005, 03:46 PM

I think you mean GB instead of MB dude... and Hard Drive are never up to the advertised amount because of Bad-sectors on the disk....

freerider · April 5th, 2005, 03:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by andyhui01

I think you mean GB instead of MB dude... and Hard Drive are never up to the advertised amount because of Bad-sectors on the disk....

This has been discussed before. The bad sectors have nothing to do with it(certainly not with a new pc).
http://forum.finalgear.com/viewtopic...=3397&start=20

Greetz Johan

TechZ · April 5th, 2005, 10:35 PM

bad sectors? Its just how the HD companies read 1024 vs 1000 bytes.

250gb formatted is 227GB. Its ok kenezzite, its exactly what it should be.

kenezzite · April 6th, 2005, 01:44 AM

Yes my bad I do mean GB images/smilies/bangin.gif

. TechZ why would they say its 250GB than, Can I unformat it and have 250GB? if yes, is it save to do that?

justin.parker · April 6th, 2005, 01:58 AM

No you cant. Its just more or less a sales gimmic to my knowledge. Could go into exact detail, but Kanderson did in the other thread:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kanderson

Actually, it doesn't lose space at all. Your 120 gig drive is actually a 114 gig drive, but it depends on whether you're talking to your operating system (114) or the hard drive manufacturer's marketing department (120).

Hard drive manufacturers use base 10 to calculate a gigabyte:
1K = 1000 bytes
1M = 1000 K
1G = 1000 M

That means a 120 gig drive is 120,000,000,000 bytes.

Computers and their operating systems use Base 2, binary (or base 16, hexadecimal), so:
1K = 1024 bytes
1M = 1024 K
1G = 1024 M

Therefore, 120,000,000,000 divided by 1024 / 1024 / 1024 is 114, not 120.

This is how marketing can exaggerate without getting sued for misrepresentation.

Viper007Bond · April 6th, 2005, 02:41 AM

It's just the way they count a GB.

Look at the capacity of my "400" GB HD in bytes:

http://images.viper007bond.com/computer/400gbhd.jpg

kenezzite · April 7th, 2005, 10:27 AM

WoW 372GB, thats what they should wright on the box! damn it! images/smilies/mad.gif

Kip_6666 · April 7th, 2005, 11:14 AM

Same with mp3 players, but there it is mb to bytes, so a 512mb mp3 player is actually a about 500mb.

jasonchiu · April 7th, 2005, 12:31 PM

yeah i bought a "160" GB hd its only 147 i feel rip'd off as well.

TechZ · April 7th, 2005, 02:58 PM

they do put a small notice saying they represent 1000bytes as 1 kilobyte, so you should read before buying.

Buy a few hd in your time, and soon it wont be a problem, you get used to it.

Mischief007 · April 7th, 2005, 03:07 PM

You just have to get used to the marketing schemes that they do. Just know that it's never as advertised.

jasonchiu · April 7th, 2005, 04:01 PM

i know like when i got a 40G i only got 37 lol. IBM seem quite good 60 got 57.8

zenon · April 7th, 2005, 05:23 PM

^ IBM can't be better than another company. images/smilies/wacko.gif

It's a number conversion - it's going to be the same no matter who makes the drive or how big it is.

I'm surprised people feel ripped off by this though - haven't hard drive always been like this? I remember my 1.6gig drive on my 100mhz computer being slightly smaller than 1.6. It's just an inherent part of the technology.

Would you complain if you bought a car advertising 200 horsepower and then found out it only had 150 at the wheels?

April 5th, 2005, 03:38 PM	#1
kenezzite Joined: Jan 24th, 2004 Last Online: November 7th, 2008 Location: USA Posts: 478 Rep Power: 0	Hard Drive Question I bought a new computer, Sony Vaio. But my compacityis 227MB, on the computer there is a label that says that the HardDrive is 250MB, what a lie. Now why would they do that? I'm thinking of buy the 400MB HD, now is it going to be 370MB or something like that? Why? __________________

April 5th, 2005, 03:46 PM	#2
andyhui01 Joined: Jun 4th, 2004 Last Online: 12:21 AM Location: Melbourne, Australia Age: 20 Posts: 8,513 Car: 00' Subaru Forester GT LFS Status: Rep Power: 28	I think you mean GB instead of MB dude... and Hard Drive are never up to the advertised amount because of Bad-sectors on the disk.... __________________

April 5th, 2005, 10:35 PM	#4
TechZ Captain Internet Joined: Dec 19th, 2004 Last Online: Yesterday Location: Bahrain Age: 24 Posts: 2,425 Car: Audi TT '08 Rep Power: 164	bad sectors? Its just how the HD companies read 1024 vs 1000 bytes. 250gb formatted is 227GB. Its ok kenezzite, its exactly what it should be. __________________ techzonline.net

April 6th, 2005, 01:44 AM	#5
kenezzite Joined: Jan 24th, 2004 Last Online: November 7th, 2008 Location: USA Posts: 478 Rep Power: 0	Yes my bad I do mean GB . TechZ why would they say its 250GB than, Can I unformat it and have 250GB? if yes, is it save to do that? __________________

April 6th, 2005, 02:41 AM	#7
Viper007Bond Lazy Head Dude Joined: Sep 21st, 2003 Last Online: Yesterday Location: Portland, Oregon Posts: 21,086 Car: Dodge Viper (I wish!) Rep Power: 237	It's just the way they count a GB. Look at the capacity of my "400" GB HD in bytes: __________________ Fight back against the evil Quiky by +1'ing this post! There is no replacement for displacement. - Wolfgang Bernhard, Chief Operating Officer, Chrysler Group talking about the Dodge Viper SRT-10 ... I ask Herb Helbig, vehicle synthesis manager for SRT and a member of the original Team Viper development group since day one, if they'd ever thought of adding traction control. "It comes with two," he says, pointing at my feet. "Learn to use them." Got it. - Motor Trend on the 2006 Dodge Viper Coupe, November 2005

April 7th, 2005, 10:27 AM	#8
kenezzite Joined: Jan 24th, 2004 Last Online: November 7th, 2008 Location: USA Posts: 478 Rep Power: 0	WoW 372GB, thats what they should wright on the box! damn it! __________________

April 7th, 2005, 11:14 AM	#9
Kip_6666 I Bought This Title :o Joined: May 17th, 2004 Last Online: Yesterday Location: The Netherlands Age: 23 Posts: 2,967 Car: Saab 93 2.0t @ stage 3 now Rep Power: 31	Same with mp3 players, but there it is mb to bytes, so a 512mb mp3 player is actually a about 500mb. __________________ http://www.internet-memes.com My Flickr

April 7th, 2005, 12:31 PM	#10
jasonchiu Joined: May 26th, 2004 Last Online: August 26th, 2005 Location: hong kong Posts: 5,216 Rep Power: 0	yeah i bought a "160" GB hd its only 147 i feel rip'd off as well.

April 7th, 2005, 02:58 PM	#11
TechZ Captain Internet Joined: Dec 19th, 2004 Last Online: Yesterday Location: Bahrain Age: 24 Posts: 2,425 Car: Audi TT '08 Rep Power: 164	they do put a small notice saying they represent 1000bytes as 1 kilobyte, so you should read before buying. Buy a few hd in your time, and soon it wont be a problem, you get used to it. __________________ techzonline.net

April 7th, 2005, 03:07 PM	#12
Mischief007 Joined: Dec 3rd, 2004 Last Online: January 6th, 2009 Location: London, Ontario, Canada Age: 27 Posts: 4,393 Car: 2004 GP GTP CompG LFS Status: Rep Power: 24	You just have to get used to the marketing schemes that they do. Just know that it's never as advertised. __________________ 2004 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP CompG 66,750 km - 41,477 miles

April 7th, 2005, 04:01 PM	#13
jasonchiu Joined: May 26th, 2004 Last Online: August 26th, 2005 Location: hong kong Posts: 5,216 Rep Power: 0	i know like when i got a 40G i only got 37 lol. IBM seem quite good 60 got 57.8

April 7th, 2005, 05:23 PM	#14
zenon VIP Joined: Mar 8th, 2004 Last Online: April 3rd, 2007 Location: Vancouver, Canada Posts: 2,546 Rep Power: 22	^ IBM can't be better than another company. It's a number conversion - it's going to be the same no matter who makes the drive or how big it is. I'm surprised people feel ripped off by this though - haven't hard drive always been like this? I remember my 1.6gig drive on my 100mhz computer being slightly smaller than 1.6. It's just an inherent part of the technology. Would you complain if you bought a car advertising 200 horsepower and then found out it only had 150 at the wheels? __________________ *Disclaimer: 'Official "What's that Song?" Guy' unless said song is European house music or sung in German.

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