HDD's - the Advertized size vs the Actual size.

[jberghem]

Don't forget that the file system / partitioning etc also uses up some space. Experiments have been done where they wrote RAW data to discs without any sort of file system or cluster indexing and were able to fill the disc with more data that with a file system

 

[fseal]

Don't forget that the file system / partitioning etc also uses up some space. Experiments have been done where they wrote RAW data to discs without any sort of file system or cluster indexing and were able to fill the disc with more data that with a file system

Of the 7% or so difference, 3,5% or so is NTFS formatting (probably similar for most other modern file systems) and the other 35.% is the GB vs GiB issue.

It's not earth shattering, it's just wrong and always has been, to use GB in ad and box art when computers use GiB.

As mentioned before a similar thing happened with tube monitors. Everyone advertised "19in" but that was actually tha outside diagonal of the tube. The displays were really like 17.5 inches some more some less. That was deemed a large enough discrepency that it was made to be required to report the actual screen area dimentions from then on, and frankly it was the right thing to do.

At this point in time, a single HD manufacturer could REALLY turn the tables by making and advertising a "REAL 1TB drive. There is nothing specific about the density of the storage media that means they HAVE to make them to 1000GB instead of 1000 GiB and in fact I'd go further if I worked for "brand X". I'd make the drive 1000 Gib AFTER formatting! What a great sales tool that would be. Since /everyone/ is always disspointed in the well below 1000 gigs of storage after formatting and the hidden GB/GiB loss (a total of about 7%), how great would it be to be able to buy "real" TB drives? That can store (on a normal OS) a REAL TB of user data!

Well that's what FSeal would do if he ran the world anyway...

 

[Joshatdot]

My discs:
- WD 500GB SATA 3.5" = 465GB formatted
- Seagate 250GB SATA 3.5" = 232GB formatted
- Fujitsu 160GB SATA 2.5" = 148GB formatted

 

[BomberAF]

I always thought that the reason why you get less than was actually advertised was because the OS used the other space to as a file for storing data.

 

[fseal]

Some is file system overhead, the rest was all lies

 

[Night Hawk]

The main differences have to deal with the two different types of disk measurements taken. The advertised size in decimal is the actual physical measurements across all drive platters using those units of measurement.

The OS on the other hand uses a totally differenr binary units of measurement to determine capacity following the partitioning and formatting for example which takes up a little there while most is lost in the conversion between the two different types of measurements.

Basically the decimal unit measure shows the estimated capacities while the binary shows what any OS will find available in real world application. Manufacturers have to use the decimal for the actual hardware side of things like machining the drive platters themselves while you opt to buy a drive by what Windows or any other OS would see as large enough.

The best understanding of the decimal side is taking a look at Tool+Die type manufacturing with engine lathes and surface grinders where tolerances have to be maintained when making more then one of the same.The estimated capacity in decimal terms is based on what the tool maker/machinist uses in manufacture.

The binary on the other hand is the "1s" amd "0s" neing the data switches and how that measures things. For anyone that gets confused on this one site offers a quick reememedy for seeing how much drive space won't be available for the OS side of things. The Tomorrow Times: The Hard Drive Capacity Calculator

 

[profdlp]

Some is file system overhead, the rest was all lies

"Lies" is such a harsh word. People in business refer to it as "marketing".

(Politicians refer to it as making a speech.)

 

[ShandyBass]

Excellent info. Rep +1

 

[fseal]

Now that the HDD size disparity question is out of the way, what about these "LED" TVs?!?!

THERE ARE NO LED TVs! Talk about lies. They're the same old LCD TVs with an LED backlight. By this token the previous LCD TVs should have been called CCFL TVs? What about when real LED TVs are made, what will the call them then? "ReaLED"? I've even seen Ads where LED was spelled in RGB color as if to imply the pixels were really RGB LEDs. ARG!

Ok, maybe this should be a new thread

 

[pparks1]

Well, when HD first came out and some of us bought our sets at 720p it was called HD. But when 1080p came out, they called it FullHD. I guess that means prior generation owners don't see FullHD, but rather LessThanFullHD.

People buy into marketing though. They love the buzz words

 

[Night Hawk]

Buzzzzzzzz...... Buzzzzzzzz...... words are what make things sell! Those are the "busy words"!

In marketing that would be the "eye candies" for moving products with the big sounding busy "tech terms" applied as always.

As far as led tvs you can go to wikipedia or look over some other references as well as some general buying tips. Everything you need to know about LED TVs - LED TVs

 

[profdlp]

...What about when real LED TVs are made, what will the call them then? "ReaLED"?...

Maybe you should buy a lottery ticket today - the power of the force is strong in you:

Vizio Claims New TruLED XVT Series is Awesome | Maximum PC

 

[fseal]

Gah!

 

[RATEDRKO]

I always wondered why the available GB was less than advertised. Companies should be honest and actually put the advertised amount of GB on harddrives.

 

[Night Hawk]

I always wondered why the available GB was less than advertised. Companies should be honest and actually put the advertised amount of GB on harddrives.

They do! But OSs use a different type of unit of measurement being binary not the capacity measured over the physical surface by decimal.

The decimal unit form of measurement of platter surfaces is calculated by machine tool standards. On the production a CNC engine lathe will be programmed to turn down the volume of cylinders and sectors according to that.

For OSs on the other hand the on/off switches of 1s and 0s are used for calculating the amount of total space available in bytes. You'll see that when going to install Windows or when looking at the properties screen for a particular drive.

 

[Keiichi25]

Actually, here is something people don't understand...

One, is people don't know computer terms in general, or the fact that Kilobytes is 1024 bytes, and a megabyte is 1024 kilobytes as the OP originally posted. The fact that number originates also due to being a Base 2 calculation. The problem is, most people use Base 10, decimal. And most people only understand base 10. Remember, data is stored in bits, so data is done in base 2 versus base 10.

Second, the file system also eats up some disk space, which also makes people twitch for a second after it gets formatted. Depending on the type of File system and the size of how the partitions are made up and file system allocation will also affect how much disk space you actually get out of the hard drive.

 

[Night Hawk]

Just the partitioning and format for a single primary on a 1tb ends up seeing 920gb before anything else goes on. The first reaction by some is "where did the 80gb go?!".

Two different formulas entirely where drives are sold by the phsical calculations of drive space not by how any OS performs the same calculation with a different method. The rounded 500gb or 1tb sounds better for marketing instead selling them by OS drive calcutions there.

 

[profdlp]

Another thing to keep in mind is that many trades use nominal measurements. Ever go to a lumberyard and actually measure a 2 X 4 ?

(Hint: They are not 2" by 4".)

 

[Night Hawk]

That's more like 1 7/8"x3 7/8" simply being rounded off to the 2x4 figure there. This is especially true for wood that has been pressed and treated.

Take a peek inside a hard drive! shows the look inside an old ide drive with only one platter. Notice that both sides of the single platter as you scroll down the page far enough.

 

[pparks1]

I always wondered why the available GB was less than advertised. Companies should be honest and actually put the advertised amount of GB on harddrives.

They do and they put disclaimers on the box trying to explain it to you.