See, this is what happens when you do to much research: you get torn between options. This quandry is with hard drives. In my mind, there’s only two options: The IBM DeskStar 120GXP or the Western Digital 1200JB. Both offer blazing fast 7200rpm rotation speeds, both have an average seek time under 9 ms. The only signifigant differences I can see are the buffer sizes and operating limitations. The WD has a massive (almost SCSI sized) 8MB buffer with the IBM only having a 2MB. Also, the IBM has a 333 hour monthly power on limitation recomendation. Not that I’d be leaving my puter on that long but it’s just a node against stability in my opinion. However, seek times with the WD are almost slow enough to make it an issue. Sure, average seek times are 8.9ms for the 8.5 for the IBM, but the seperation in “Track to Track” and “Average Seek (write)” offer an advantage for the IBM camp. I dunno. The IBM is fast as shit but the WB has a huge huge buffer. Both offer speed, both offer space. The question comes down to the “little things.”