Placing desktop horizontally?

[Dave21]

Hey, I'm thinking of placing my desktop horizontally on my table as opposed to vertically (upwards). Do you see any potential problems with my optical drive (dvd burner)? I'm thinking that if i put a cd in and when it spins it might spin out of place .

Is that even possible?

[ktkendall]

If your cd drive isn't designed for that, sort of like a cd player in a car might be, then you gonna have a heck of a time just placing the cd in there and getting it to stay in place while the tray closes.

[Dave21]

Originally Posted by ktkendall If your cd drive isn't designed for that, sort of like a cd player in a car might be, then you gonna have a heck of a time just placing the cd in there and getting it to stay in place while the tray closes.

Suprisingly I tried, and it actually stays in place. I would think it would fall off but it actually stays in tack. Haha. If you don't believe it you can try . I have a lite-on dvd-r drive. I'm more worried about what goes on inside.

[ktkendall]

Does it work OK as far as reading the disk?

[Dave21]

Originally Posted by ktkendall Does it work OK as far as reading the disk?

I installed vista like that. But I'm worried that something might happen in the long run so I'm hoping someone has a definite answer.

[larrymoencurly]

If optical drives weren't meant to be installed vertically, then their trays wouldn't have those little cleats to keep the disk from falling out. Also there's no problem with hard drives because some Dells have come from the factory with the HD vertical, and all HD manufacturers say it's acceptable (Seagate used to say not to mount them with the front facing downward).

[glc]

It's not a good idea to change the orientation of a used hard drive though. That can result in reduced service life. I don't know how applicable this is any more with the use of fluid bearings.

[Dave21]

Originally Posted by glc It's not a good idea to change the orientation of a used hard drive though. That can result in reduced service life. I don't know how applicable this is any more with the use of fluid bearings.

My case is a lian li pc60 and its a really tight fit with everything in there. Also, the harddrive cage is blocked by my the video card. For the HD cage, you have the option of having the harddrive either placed flat (horizontally) or upright (vertically).

Quesiton:
1) I currently have it placed upright as its the only way it'll fit. Are you saying that this will reduce the life of my harddrive?

2) If I were to place the cage horizontally on my desk, then the harddrive would be positioned horizontally so I guess that would be good a good thing. However, when I mounted my harddrive, the side of the harddrive with the chips exposed are facing outwards. So if I placed the case horizontally, the harddrive would be upside down. Does it really matter if its upside down or not?

I hope that's not confusing. Thank you.

[David M]

Ships and workboats have computers onboard. If that is not movement then I don't know what is. Do they have problems? No, not anymore than usual.

[Lespaul20]

I really wouldn't worry too much about hard drive orientation. Laptop drives get moved around all the time, the original Ipods had mechanical hard drives and we know those didn't stay in one place for it's life. Today's hard drives are much different than yesteryears hard drives. Put it the way you want it and if you decided to change it I don't think it will hurt anything.

[bd1886]

I have a case where multiple hard drives have to be installed vertically, by design. (Haven't had an issue with this set-up for two years.)

[>:() - Tiki Man]

Well, you should take care not to put stuff on top of your computer case when its like that, because most cases now-a-days are not designed with that in mind. This usually is not a problem when your case is made of steel (like the crap dell doles out), but especially if your case is aluminum, I would take extra precautions (like not putting a 30lb CRT on top of it; or reinforcing the side panel somehow).

Furthermore, all your hardware should be fine, and it will actually reduce stress on your motherboard.

[Dave21]

Originally Posted by >:() - Tiki Man Furthermore, all your hardware should be fine, and it will actually reduce stress on your motherboard.

That's what I'm thinking too. Which is good for the long run. So far I've been putting in cds vertically in the optical drive and it seems like it'll be okay.

[Dave21]

I just thought of another possible hazzard:

My speaker system is usually on loud and vibrates the table. Would the vibrations and tremors affect the components inside the case?