harnyo@eniac.seas.upenn.edu (Suwandi Harnyo) (04/17/89)
I have just bought a laptop for the first time. I have a question about the harddisk. Is it dangerous to shake the laptop while you are accessing the harddisk ? ALso, while carrying it, wouldn't it cause the harddisk head to hit the disk surface ? It's great to use the laptop on your lap while it's flying, but my common sense tell me that it may be dangerous for the harddisk. Any comment is much appreciated. Andy harnyo@eniac.seas.upenn.edu
gph@hpsemc.HP.COM (Paul Houtz) (04/18/89)
harnyo@eniac.seas.upenn.edu (Suwandi Harnyo) writes: >I have just bought a laptop for the first time. I have a question >about the harddisk. Is it dangerous to shake the laptop while you >are accessing the harddisk ? ALso, while carrying it, wouldn't it >cause the harddisk head to hit the disk surface ? > >It's great to use the laptop on your lap while it's flying, but my >common sense tell me that it may be dangerous for the harddisk. >Any comment is much appreciated. As far as using a "laptop" on your lap, I think that would be pushing it. The term "laptop" is an indicator of size, not suggested positioning of the machine. Any lap top should be used sitting on a flat, solid surface, such as a table. Most of the hard disks are well cushioned so you may actually be able to use it on your lap, but do you want to take the chance? There is NO chance of the heads hitting the media when you carry it as the heads are PARKED when you turn the machine off. Sooooooo don't carry it around while it's running! Hope this helps. Paul Houtz HP Technology Access Center 10670 N. Tantau Avenue Cupertino, Ca 95014 (408) 725-3864 hplabs!hpda!hpsemc!gph gph%hpsemc@hplabs.HP.COM
alz@tc.fluke.COM (Al Weiss) (04/19/89)
In article <9994@netnews.upenn.edu> harnyo@eniac.seas.upenn.edu writes: >Is it dangerous to shake the laptop while you >are accessing the harddisk? Also, while carrying it, wouldn't it >cause the harddisk head to hit the disk surface ? . . . >my common sense tells me that it may be dangerous for the harddisk. The hard drives for laptops "generally" are going to be a bit more rugged during operation, but there certainly are limits. You aren't going to see me purposefully shaking it. That just adds to the possibility of something bad happening. The other item is that they should all have is some type of head locking (hopefully automatic) while powered down to make them able to withstand being carried around with much less chance for the heads banging into good media or damaging the heads themselves. Another less thought about situation that Conner Peripherals just warned me about (but is probably valid for other drives also) is during the power down sequence the heads are much more suseptable to a crash. During the five-or-so seconds that it takes to stop rotating and have the heads lock into place, there is less air movement to hold the heads off of the media. So when you kill the power, be REAL careful for about 5 seconds. After that it'll take 75G's of shock to do anything. My 2 cents worth, Al
cs3b3aj@maccs.McMaster.CA (Stephen M. Dunn) (04/23/89)
In article <8090019@hpsemc.HP.COM> gph@hpsemc.HP.COM (Paul Houtz) writes: > Most of the hard disks are well cushioned so you may actually >be able to use it on your lap, but do you want to take the chance? > There is NO chance of the heads hitting the media when you carry >it as the heads are PARKED when you turn the machine off. Sooooooo >don't carry it around while it's running! Some laptops (including at least one Toshiba, model number unknown) have hard drives which automatically park after three or four seconds of HD inactivity. This is quite a handy feature if you're going to be shaking the computer (why you'd want to, though, is beyond me) while using it. All in all, however, I agree with the notion that you should use the thing on a relatively stable surface (if you're in California, this may be difficult :-) -- ====================================================================== ! Stephen M. Dunn, cs3b3aj@maccs.McMaster.CA ! DISCLAIMER: ! ! Goddamn exams! I hate them! I hate them! ! I'm only an undergrad ! ======================================================================