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    ActiveSmart Dx VS. Thinkvantage Dx

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by Judy Smith, Mar 23, 2011.

  1. Judy Smith

    Judy Smith Notebook Consultant

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    Before getting to my question re: the subject header, I wanted to know if it's safe to leave a used-out battery inside my thinkpad?

    (I bought a used thinkpad which battery came with no charge.)

    OK, now, since this is a used laptop, I decided to test the HDD, which the guy had told me had tested OK.

    So I downloaded ActiveSmart, then tested via both that & Thinkvantage.
    Results:

    Active Smart:
    NORMAL - No abnormal drive attributes detected, but the performance & reliability of this hard drive is low

    The HDD is Hitachi Model HTS541060G9AT00
    Serial: MPB3LAXGJ6KR9M
    5400 RPM
    Cache size 7.4 mb
    temp 30C

    ThinkVantage:
    SMART Status - passed
    Targeted Read - passed
    Random Seek - passed
    Funnel seek - passed
    surface scan - passed
    surface scan - passed
    Smart extended self test - passed

    So, based on above 2, would I be on rocky ground to trust this HDD?
     
    Judy Smith, Mar 23, 2011
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  2. Tsunade_Hime

    Tsunade_Hime such bacon. wow

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    Well looks like physically the drive maybe fine but read/write performance maybe a downer. I mean at least hard drives are cheap these days.
     
    Tsunade_Hime, Mar 23, 2011
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  3. wave

    wave Notebook Virtuoso

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    All the tests were passed so thats good. The warning based on performance might just be because its a 5400 rpm notebook drive of an older generation. It never was fast.

    Check the SMART data. How many power on hours does the drive have?

    Used hard disks are always iffy. It really depends on luck. They can fail any time or last another 5 years without problems. But the chances of running into problems of older drives are always high than new drives.

    You can keep using it but backups, always important for any computer, are even more important for you.
     
    wave, Mar 23, 2011
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  4. Tsunade_Hime

    Tsunade_Hime such bacon. wow

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    I don't entirely trust SMART as if you have a faulty SATA controller it can throw off SMART completely. Also I have had drives that pass SMART test but fail read/read verify/write tests. It's rare but it happens.
     
    Tsunade_Hime, Mar 23, 2011
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  5. Judy Smith

    Judy Smith Notebook Consultant

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    3266 Power-On hours
    It comes with option to buy Sq.Trade warranty.
    In this case, would it make sense to purchase same?
    One? Two? years?

    FYI, after awhile, the ActiveSmart Dx had changed from orange-colored "normal" to green-colored "good".

    Tsunade, do you consider ThinkVantage more reliable?
     
    Judy Smith, Mar 27, 2011
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  6. Judy Smith

    Judy Smith Notebook Consultant

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    P.S. here's a list of "changed ActiveSmart attributes"

    3/24 Throughput performance - old value 105, new value 100
    3/24 Seek time performance - old value 120, new value 100
    3/26 Spin up time - old value 169, new value 157

    Re-allocated bad blocks - 1

    Is 3266 Power-On hours OK?
    Would it be advisable to get warranty?
     
    Judy Smith, Mar 28, 2011
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