My Popcorn Hour is on it's way. I'm going to install a hard drive. I was concern about internal heat. I was considering a 500 gig drive but fear that a drive this large will generate a lot of heat. I was thinking of going with a 320 gig drive that's got a reputation for running cool and quiet.

I'm thinking long term here. I want my Popcorn Hour to last a long time and run reliably. It's going to get a lot use just about every day.

The 320 gig hard drive I'm considering is a : Western Digital Caviar SE WD3200JBRTL 320GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache IDE Ultra ATA100

The 500 gig hard drive: Western Digital Caviar SE WD5000JBRTL 500GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache IDE Ultra ATA100

The 500 gig has features of : WhisperDrive and SoftSeek technologies maintain low drive temperature and sound output.

Any opinions or better yet, first hand experience with large drives installed in a Popcorn Hour?

Thanks.

I can't comment on those particular drives, but if you can find a 5400rpm versions that would probably be better. Those drives usually put out less heat.

Definitely don't go with the WD5000JBRTL. I purchased this drive (newegg item # N82E16822136185) for my popcorn hour (PCH), and it has these problems with the PCH:

1. IDE connector on the drive is offset, so the drive doesn't align with the mounting holes in the bottom of the case. I tried a Seagate 400GB drive I had around, and it lines up properly.

2. The WD5000JBRTL apparently emits an unusal amount of RF noise or other interference. This noise causes two problems; 1) It inteferes with the IR receiver inside the PCH, which causes remote control key presses to repeat. The new PCH firmware has an option for the IR to turn off the repeating, but it makes the remote harder to use. 2) The noise also causes herringbone patterns in the analog outputs of the PCH (composite, s-video). It doesn't seem to effect HDMI.

3. The drive runs mega-hot. There is no fan in the PCH, so any drive is likely to run fairly hot, but this drive runs really hot.

All of the above problems have been mentioned by other users on the networkmediatank forums.

I ended up installing a SATA adapter with an eSATA socket on the rear panel, and run an external SATA drive. If you don't care about the PCH applications, you could also just run a USB drive.

Definitely don't go with the WD5000JBRTL. I purchased this drive (newegg item # N82E16822136185) for my popcorn hour (PCH), and it has these problems with the PCH:

1. IDE connector on the drive is offset, so the drive doesn't align with the mounting holes in the bottom of the case. I tried a Seagate 400GB drive I had around, and it lines up properly.

2. The WD5000JBRTL apparently emits an unusal amount of RF noise or other interference. This noise causes two problems; 1) It inteferes with the IR receiver inside the PCH, which causes remote control key presses to repeat. The new PCH firmware has an option for the IR to turn off the repeating, but it makes the remote harder to use. 2) The noise also causes herringbone patterns in the analog outputs of the PCH (composite, s-video). It doesn't seem to effect HDMI.

3. The drive runs mega-hot. There is no fan in the PCH, so any drive is likely to run fairly hot, but this drive runs really hot.

All of the above problems have been mentioned by other users on the networkmediatank forums.

I ended up installing a SATA adapter with an eSATA socket on the rear panel, and run an external SATA drive. If you don't care about the PCH applications, you could also just run a USB drive.

Thanks, for the info. You just saved me alot trouble.

Ever consider a 4200 or 5400 rpm notebook drive with an adapter?

I would highly suggest sticking with a 5400rpm drive. I stuck an old 160GB Seagate 5400rpm drive in my PCH 7 months ago and haven't had any heat related issues.

I installed the following from Newegg. It is hot but not that hot and is plenty quiet.

22-136-109 HD 320G|WD 7K 8M ATA100 WD3200AAJB

I purchased a 500MB WD Internal HDD and it is overheating and freezing up. Do I need to use an Internal HDD or can I simply connect my External USB HDD and still use the PCH applications like BT?

I will repeat the above warnings

DO NOT PURCHASE ANY NEW WD DRIVE FOR USE IN THE POPCORN HOUR

They simply do not play well together. My WD 160GB has been nothing but trouble with the PCH.

Laters,
Jeff

I purchased a 500MB WD Internal HDD and it is overheating and freezing up. Do I need to use an Internal HDD or can I simply connect my External USB HDD and still use the PCH applications like BT?

I believe that an external USB drive will work but cannot be used for any of the PCH applications. If you wish to use an external USB drive you can load the PCH applications on a USB memory stick with some modifications. There are threads on the Networked Media Tank forums that will tell you how to do this.

Laters,
Jeff

Can you recommend a drive that works well with the PCH? I suppose we are looking for a combination of low heat, high capacity and low noise. Any suggestions while I can still return my WD?

Gizzard: I too am looking for the same thing and found this thread: http://www.networkedmediatank.com/viewtopic.php?t=1659

Going to read it now...

My new popcorn hour a-210 is a dream. I absolutely love it. But as it is fanless it runs very hot. I was using a western digital caviar green which was perfectly compatible but I didn't want to ADD to the heat so I'm now using the WD drive via USB into the PH A-210.