From: bcoleman@hayes.com (Bill Coleman)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.advocacy
Subject: Re: MAC Harddrive space
Date: 15 Dec 92 14:05:11 EDT
Distribution: na
Organization: Hayes Microcomputer Products, Norcross, GA

In article <1992Dec6.224612.11434@doug.cae.wisc.edu>, cmurphy@cae.wisc.edu (Christopher Murphy) writes:
> I have a question that hopefully somebody can answer.

We've got tons of answers.

> For about the past 8 months I've been watching 486 prices drop and was
> seriously going to get one.. since that time I've decided that a MacIIcx
> or something similar would be more useful. The question I have concerns 
> hard drive space.
> 
> IBM users always talk about 200 MB being at the 'bare necessity' level, and
> that even THAT amount will be used up very quickly.

Yeah, they talk a lot, but I doubt that most of these people really USE that
kind of space. 

A lot of these sorts merely snap up every freely distributed application (and
many that aren't freely distributed) and utility and drop them on their disk.
They rarely use these (if at all) utilities, but they at least have them.

Then, of course, there's the obligatory collection of nude .GIF files and
whatnot. Of course, no IBM system would be complete without DOS, Windows, and
OS/2 -- so there's three operating systems taking up space on the disk.

No, I think most IBM'ers don't really need 200 MB, they just think they do.
It's a sort of a "big car syndrome." They want to buy big disks so they can
brag to their friends as to how much space they have -- then they feel 
inadequate because they only have 10MB of files on a 200MB disk.

> Are Mac programs as large as IBM programs? The reason I am wondering is that
> most of the Mac packages have a standard of about 80 megs or so. Would 80
> megs last a lot longer compared to an IBM system using the same type of
> programs??

Since most Mac owners appear to USE their machines more than IBM users, I'd
say yes, 80MB is more than adequate for most users. 

I bought a 105MB drive to replace my 40MB last year. I still haven't filled
it, even though it contains stuff like a 20MB SoftPC hard drive file. When it
does run short of space, you can be sure I'll dig in there and remove all the
flotsam from the disk and be happy for quite a while.

My wife's Powerbook only has a 20MB disk. You have to really think "do I really
NEED this" when you go to install software on it. But she has everything she
needs on that machine.

> I realize that it's cheaper to buy harddrives from companies outside of Apple,
> but then the quality becomes a concern.

I bought my 105MB from APS. I've been quite happy.

When you run out of space, that's the time to start shopping for a larger
drive, not before.

Go with the Mac.

-- 
Bill Coleman, AA4LR                ! CIS: 76067,2327    AppleLink: D1958
Principal Software Engineer        ! Packet Radio: AA4LR @ W4QO
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Disclaimer: "My employer doesn't pay me to have opinions."
Quote: "The same light shines on vineyards that makes deserts." -Steve Hackett.

Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.advocacy