🚀 go-pugleaf

"Phred" <ppnerkDELETETHIS@yahoo.com> wrote in message news:bvb6od$qe8sf$1@ID-151056.news.uni-berlin.de...
> In article <0L3Sb.28740$qx2.3400569@stones.force9.net>,
> "John J. Burness" <JohnJBurnessAT@ieeDOT.org> wrote:
> >Chuck Lapre wrote:
> >> I installed my new Dimension XPs today.  The HD is supposed to be 120 GB.
> >> Yet, the total size is listed as 111 GB.  Free space is 104 GB.
> >> I was only going to pay for 80 GB.  This was an upgrade.
> >> Is there a reasonable explanation, or did Dell mess up?
> >
> >You do HAVE a 120G HDD!!
> >
> >If you right-click on the Drive (within Explorer) do you get a total
> >size that exceeds 120,000,000,000? That is 120G (although I have seen
> >199,9xx,xxx,xxx which is NOT 120G but is "near enough").
> >
> >By definition, within EVERY International Standard:-
> >1k = 1,000
> >1M = 1,000k = 1,000,000
> >1G = 1,000M = 1,000,000k = 1,000,000,000
> >
> >In the early days of Computing, simply because it was binary based & far
> >simpler to calculate, 1k was assumed to be 1,024 (in those days nobody
> >had ever thought about 1M, certainly it beyond any dreams to talk about
> >1G). The odd 24 bits were not worth bothering about!!
> >
> >In other words, a "slang", but technically incorrect, definition started
> >to be used.
> >
> >The consequence of the error (or mis-understanding) this creates is
> >guaranteed to confuse most people!
> >
> >Keeping it in strictly Computer Slang definitions
> >1k = 1,024
> >1M = 1,024 x 1,024 = 1,048,576
> >1G = 1,024 x 1,024 x 1,024 = 1,073,741,824
> >
> >For a HDD that is correctly defined as 120G (i.e. 120,000,000,000) this
> >would be displayed as 111.7G.
> >
> >Incidentally, your original 80G HDD would have been displayed as 74.5G!
>
> I actual fact I ran across three definitions of "gigabyte" when
> looking at some hard disk specs on my Dell Dimension 4100 the other
> day -- depending on which source was quoting the data.
>
> 1. Dell itself defines GB as 1000^3 bytes for HDDs, IIRC.
> 2. Windows Explorer (Win ME) uses 1024^3 in "properties".
> 3. Device Manager uses a hybid, 1000^2*1024.
>
> The 1000^3 definition seems to be used universally by manufacturers
> for HDDs these days.  Call it the "HDD GB".
>
> The 1024^3 definition is used widely (always?) for memory. ("RAM GB".)
>
> The hybrid definition(s) seem to apply at whim.  ("Mongrel GB". ;-)

Nope, it was also seen with the 1.44MB floppy too.