Hey Mind,
Thanks for all your advice I really appreciate it!
I think your suggestion of not getting a SATA drive is valid, thus decided to get the other (IDE) kind.
Here are some drives i found....from bothe Maxtor and Wester Digital (with the 16mb cache option) .
One question is what is the difference between these two Maxtor drives. How do i tell which one will fit my computer?
(whether IDE or ATA 100 or ATA13 -- what is the difference)
Maxtor DiamondMax 10 300GB Hard Drive
(Ultra ATA-133, 7,200RPM, 16MB - SKU: 6L300R0)
Price Range: $119.90 (OEM) - $174.00 from 35 Sellers
Maxtor DiamondMax Plus10 300GB Hard Drive
(EIDE, Ultra ATA/133, 7200 RPM, 16MB - SKU: 6B300R0)
Price Range: $120.80 - $248.80 from 19 Sellers
or these two Western Digital drives
Western Digital Caviar SE 320GB Hard Drive
(IDE, 7200 RPM, 8MB - SKU: WD3200JB)
Price Range: $125.00 - $251.40 from 40 Sellers
Western Digital Caviar SE WD3000JB 300GB Hard Drive
(ATA-100, 7200 RPM, 8MB - SKU: WD3000JB)
Price Range: $126.00 (OEM) - $181.53 from 33 Sellers 4
(...anyone with more info regarding these drives would be much appreciated...)
thanks again for the help,
sean