INTRODUCTION
When purchasing a hard disk drive it is important to understand and verify the hard disk drive is suitable for your uses and has or does not have the options you may or may not need.
Unfortunately with hard disk drive technologies changing everyday it is can be sometimes confusing and frustrating when looking to purchase a hard disk drive.

INTERFACE
When looking to purchase a hard disk drive the first and foremost important consideration is the Interface the hard disk drive uses to communicate with the computer. The following is a listing of each of the available interfaces with information how thy may or may not apply to your computer.

IDE/ATAPI/ATA - One of the more commonly found hard disk drives and used with IBM compatible computers, IDE is generally an easy to install and customized interface. Each IBM computer has the availability for a maximum of four IDE devices, these devices can range from Hard Disk drives to CD-ROM drives. If considering purchasing an IDE/ATAPI/ATA hard disk drive verify that there available locations for the drive to be connected too.

SCSI - Another commonly used interface SCSI devices are found in Apple computers as well as some IBM computers. The SCSI interface is generally a faster solution when compared to IDE/ATAP however in some cases can be more difficult to install. To install a SCSI hard disk drive you must have a SCSI card and an available connection on the SCSI cable connecting to the SCSI card. It is important to remember if you have a Proprietary SCSI card such as a SCSI card included with the Iomega Jaz drive, this SCSI card may not always allow your hard disk drive to work.

External (USB / Fire wire / Parallel) - Several external solutions are also available; these include but are not limited to USB Hard disk drive, Fire wire Hard disk drive and Parallel Hard disk drive. When considering an external hard disk drive it is important to look at the speed difference, for transferring data to and from the hard disk drive. In addition for these external drives to function properly you must also have the available connection for the drive to be connected too.

SPEED
In addition to the interface it is also important to look at the transfer rates of the hard disk drive, long transfer rates can considerably slow down your computer when transferring larger files. When looking at the hard disk drive, look for specifications listing the RPM (Rotations Per Minute). An example of this would be a speed of 7,200 RPM.

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
Below is a listing of some other important considerations to look at when purchasing a computer hard disk drive:

Warranty - How long is the warranty and what does it cover.

Support - Is the technical support number a free number is it open 24 hours 7 days a week.

Included Components - Verify that the hard disk drive that you are purchasing comes with the needed components to install the drive. Generally hard disk drives included from the manufacture will include, IDE / ATA/66-100 Cable, standard drive rails, instructions and diskette for installation.

Internal / External Transfer rates - The Internal transfer rate is the rate at which the hard disk drive can take the data from the platter to the internal cache or read buffer. The External Transfer rate is the rate at which the hard disk drive can then take the data in the internal cache or read buffer to the computer memory.

S.M.A.R.T. - S.M.A.R.T. is a new technology used to help warn the computer user of possible problems with the hard disk drive.

ATA, ATA/33, ATA/66, ATA/100 - Another new and sometimes confusing interface is the ATA interface. Developed by Quantum in 1996 the Ultra ATA/33 interface allowed for computers to transfer up to 33 MB per second, later in 1998 this standard was upgraded to the ATA/66 standard with the availability of transferring up to 66 MB per second.

When purchasing an ATA/66 drive, the computer must support ATA66 as well as have an ATA/66 cable in order to support the transfer rate of 66 MB per second. If the computer does not have this cable the drive will automatically be decreased to a transfer rate of 33 MB per second.

PRICE RANGE
The price range can vary depending upon what type of interface the drive uses (IDE / SCSI / USB), you should expect to pay more for SCSI drives as they are generally released before IDE drives and are a faster technology. In addition to the interface the faster the RPM on the drive is the more you should also expect to pay.

READY TO PURCHASE
Once you have reviewed the appropriate information and believe that you are ready to make a purchase of a new hard disk drive, verify that the source you are purchasing the hard disk drive is a reputable source and you have reviewed our section on what to look out for when purchasing over the Internet.