# How much Hard Drive space do you use on your Laptop?



## v_legolas_gleaf (Oct 9, 2019)

Be it SSD (Solid State Drive) or conventional "slower" Hard Disk Drives, how much space do you normally use / require for writing your novel? 128 GB? 256 GB? 512 GB? 1 TB (1000 GB) ?


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## CupofJoe (Oct 9, 2019)

HDDs may be lower but there is far more chance of data recovery if it dies. From experience, when a SDD dies, it is dead. At work we have had so many SDDs fail we now buy an external HDD for each Laptop with an SSD and backup software. In theory it means there is a backup in case of sudden failure. We still can't make research do the backup but we have given them the tools.
Personally, my laptop has a 512Gb HDD. It isn't as light or as fast to boot as something with an SSD but those are not my priority.


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## FifthView (Oct 9, 2019)

Yeah, I'm always leery of SSDs, but I've never known how much this is superstition, how much the technology may have improved since I first read cautionary tales; added to that, the cost-storage ratio has left me reluctant to use SSD storage.

But I have my Scrivener connected to Dropbox, the free level, and everything gets backed up there, so...? I worry about losing access to Dropbox too, heh. I do have an external HDD for backups, but I don't use it regularly for my writing at this point. Basically, it's on auto-backup for my Documents folder; but Scrivener isn't currently backing up to my Documents folder, only to Dropbox, so I have to manually backup my writing to Documents from time to time. Which I forget to do, from time to time, heh.

As for storage...text is a relatively small footprint, compared to images and video (and games and software), so I don't worry about it too much. Sometimes I use other media in my Scrivener files (like images of characters I've created), but not enough to worry so much about storage capacity.


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## Vaporo (Oct 9, 2019)

Yeah, I have both an SSD and a HDD, but the SSD is small and I try to keep as much as possible on the disk. Which is a little but annoying at times, since everything defaults to the C drive.


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## MrNybble (Oct 9, 2019)

I have three laptops. One having the HDD, while the other two are just glorified tablets with keyboards. There is a NAS (Network attached storage) in the house that has two 256GB SSDs running as a RAID1 with weekly save states. (Clone of each other). That along with cloud backups make sure I don't lose stuff. Even if my house gets burned down, flooded, tornado tossed, or struck by a meteor, I still have my info somewhere. 

I used to be a computer admin in my last job. Redundancy is key to keep from losing stuff. Be it time or information.


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## Penpilot (Oct 9, 2019)

The foot print for my writing is pretty small. Last time I did a major back up, the folder containing all my writing from the beginning of time was around 250 megs. This contains multiple drafts and stuff I download for research and reference such as pics and web pages.

One scrivener novel is I believe around one meg.


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## Yora (Oct 9, 2019)

I used to be a computer kid and build my own computers. Now I don't even understand the question.

My notebook is silver and says Sony on it.


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## CupofJoe (Oct 9, 2019)

Yora said:


> I used to be a computer kid and build my own computers. Now I don't even understand the question.
> My notebook is silver and says Sony on it.


This me! Except mine is a Sparkling Ruby Red and has ASUS on the lid. And yes I bought it because I liked the colour.


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## skip.knox (Oct 9, 2019)

Yours sparkles? *jealous*


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## A. E. Lowan (Oct 10, 2019)

My current laptop is the backup computer, but my desktop has a SSD (and I need a second one because I'm a gamer). I save everything both to the SSD and to the Cloud, of which the Documents folder only takes up about 5GB. Thank goodness for the Cloud, though. It's gotten me seamlessly through not one but two computer crashes, both with HDD. I hope my SSD lasts because I'm now addicted to the speed of the thing.


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## Steerpike (Oct 10, 2019)

I have an SSD. I don't use a lot of space for my writing--the file sizes are not huge. I think the SSD is only 128 Gig. The files are also backed up to the cloud.


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## CupofJoe (Oct 10, 2019)

skip.knox said:


> Yours sparkles? *jealous*


Like a slipper from the land of Oz...


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## v_legolas_gleaf (Oct 11, 2019)

Penpilot said:


> The foot print for my writing is pretty small. Last time I did a major back up, the folder containing all my writing from the beginning of time was around 250 megs. This contains multiple drafts and stuff I download for research and reference such as pics and web pages.
> 
> One scrivener novel is I believe around one meg.




That is quite informative! That's not even half a gigabyte! Does Scrivener compress the files or something before storing them on the hard drive?


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## v_legolas_gleaf (Oct 11, 2019)

Yora said:


> I used to be a computer kid and build my own computers. Now I don't even understand the question.
> 
> My notebook is silver and says Sony on it.



I still *am* a computer kid but I miss the days where one could buy their own components and build their own pc from scratch. Now though, laptops have all but killed off desktops! 

And laptops cannot be self-assembled in a chassis the same as desktops used to be! They are all pre-fabricated on the other side of the world and then imported into whichever country you are in. Same with tablets.

I think the fun is gone in being a computer nerd as ANYONE these days can have the latest technology just by paying a hefty amount (either lumpsum or in EMIs) so anyone who's got money to burn can be a computer nerd with the latest toys!


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## Steerpike (Oct 11, 2019)

v_legolas_gleaf said:


> That is quite informative! That's not even half a gigabyte! Does Scrivener compress the files or something before storing them on the hard drive?



I don’t think it compresses the files. The text is save in RTF, I believe, and that doesn’t take up a lot of space. The rest of the info in the .scriv file is just there to tell Scrovener how to handle the text.


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## A. E. Lowan (Oct 11, 2019)

v_legolas_gleaf said:


> I still *am* a computer kid but I miss the days where one could buy their own components and build their own pc from scratch. Now though, laptops have all but killed off desktops!
> 
> And laptops cannot be self-assembled in a chassis the same as desktops used to be! They are all pre-fabricated on the other side of the world and then imported into whichever country you are in. Same with tablets.
> 
> I think the fun is gone in being a computer nerd as ANYONE these days can have the latest technology just by paying a hefty amount (either lumpsum or in EMIs) so anyone who's got money to burn can be a computer nerd with the latest toys!








	

		
			
		

		
	
  Mah bebe. It's a Skytech Archangel gaming computer named "Morningstar" and I write books on it. I maintain that the desktop isn't dead. It's just waiting for your laptop to die, which it will. I have a big 15 inch HP with a bum hard drive (going to replace it soon) that will attest to just that. I'll never rely on just a lappie again for just that reason. This monster in the corner can be totally upgraded from mother board on down, can take on multiple hard drives, and never skip a step.


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## ThinkerX (Oct 11, 2019)

v_legolas_gleaf said:


> I still *am* a computer kid but I miss the days where one could buy their own components and build their own pc from scratch. Now though, laptops have all but killed off desktops!
> 
> And laptops cannot be self-assembled in a chassis the same as desktops used to be! They are all pre-fabricated on the other side of the world and then imported into whichever country you are in. Same with tablets.
> 
> I think the fun is gone in being a computer nerd as ANYONE these days can have the latest technology just by paying a hefty amount (either lumpsum or in EMIs) so anyone who's got money to burn can be a computer nerd with the latest toys!


No laptop here - old school desktop, components connected by a tangle of cables.  

Have thought the next computer might be a laptop, though, should I find one cheap and durable enough...


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## Vaporo (Oct 12, 2019)

Remember, no matter how good of a laptop you get, you will always be able to get a better desktop for cheaper. Plus, desktops are easier to upgrade.

I have a laptop right now, since I need something mobile for college. However, eventually I hope to have a desktop as my "main" machine, and then just have a cheap word processor laptop that I can drag around with me.


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## Steerpike (Oct 12, 2019)

Thing is, I don’t have one place that I write. I may write a bit during lunch at work, I write very often at a locally-owned coffee shop I frequent. I travel and will write in hotels. I have a good desktop but it is mostly a gaming rig.


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## pmmg (Oct 12, 2019)

Vaporo said:


> Remember, no matter how good of a laptop you get, you will always be able to get a better desktop for cheaper. Plus, desktops are easier to upgrade.



yeah, but its harder to throw your desktop across the room when you lose at team fortress...


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## Vaporo (Oct 12, 2019)

pmmg said:


> yeah, but its harder to throw your desktop across the room when you lose at team fortress...


Yeah, "fair and balanced," huh?


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## pmmg (Oct 12, 2019)

Did not realise there was a real discussion in this one.  I work in it. I use both.  Personally, i think all my actual machines have spindle drives. I dont really play games anymore so speed is not an issue. You can buy a much bigger drive for the same money with spindle types but that is becoming moot.  Generally i fill up a 1tb drive so i would not consider smaller.

it is definitely true that spindle drives offer recovery that ssd does not. Its not widely known but ssd drives will die faster if they start to run out of space. Has to do with wearing out the read write ability of the remaining space so you dont want to have one of those and fill it up. 

ive also used hybrid drives.  No issues with those, but they do have probelms just like any other drive. 

the world is moving deeper into ssd do this question wont matter soon. Ssd will be the only before long.


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## Vaporo (Oct 12, 2019)

pmmg said:


> the world is moving deeper into ssd do this question wont matter soon. Ssd will be the only before long.



Maybe some day, but maybe not as soon as you think. Hard drives are still king when it comes to mass storage since they're cheap and reliable. SSDs have been around for a while now and I haven't seen too much of a price drop, so they may have bottomed on manufacturing costs out for the moment. Pure speculation, but only time will tell.


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## pmmg (Oct 13, 2019)

Well... the first ssd i purchased were 128gb at about $80 a peice. Later i was buying 256gb at the same price. At that time there were no ssd at 1tb for less $400. Here is one today

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/samsun...MI1-jIot2Y5QIVSz0MCh2-WwFnEAQYAiABEgJYlfD_BwE


so i think the day is coming. I think it is called Moores law, technology doubles every two years and prices halve.


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## Vaporo (Oct 13, 2019)

All right, fair enough. I've mostly looked at laptop SSDs, so maybe that's where the difference comes from.


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## v_legolas_gleaf (Oct 13, 2019)

pmmg said:


> yeah, but its harder to throw your desktop across the room when you lose at team fortress...


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## A. E. Lowan (Oct 13, 2019)

pmmg said:


> so i think the day is coming. I think it is called Moores law, technology doubles every two years and prices halve.


You're right, it's Moore's Law. It also states that tech will get smaller until we run into quantum physics problems that will cause short circuiting.


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## Tom (Oct 14, 2019)

I upgraded from a laptop with an HDD to a much newer one with an SSD earlier this year and so far I'm amazed. My HDD had more storage space, but it was so slow and crash-prone it was basically unusable. The SDD laptop is _blazingly_ fast. And I make up for any lost storage with a 1TB external drive, so the space tradeoff wasn't even an issue.


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