Just for fun, I decided to time how long it takes to boot my computers – both my main desktop computer and my little netbook (which can boot to either Windows 7 or Ubuntu).<\/p>\n
This was done totally unscientifically of course – I just used a stopwatch and started as soon as the BIOS POST test was over. I recorded 2 different times – the time for the desktop to appear<\/em> and the time for the computer to actually be usable (that is, all startup programs have opened and no hourglass cursor).<\/p>\n Want to know how things turned out? I thought you might, so here’s a handy chart summarizing the results:<\/p>\n It’s probably also worth mentioning that my desktop computer loads a fair number of programs on startup – wallpaper changers, my online backup program, dropbox, etc., which accounts for it’s poor time to “computer usable.”<\/p>\n It’s also probably worth mentioning the specs of the two computers – the desktop is an Intel Core 2 Quad @ 2.66 GHz with 7200 RPM hard drives and 6 GB of RAM, while the netbook is an Intel Atom (single core) @ 1.6 GHz with a 5200 RPM hard drive and 1 GB of RAM.<\/p>\n When comparing Windows 7 startup times, the netbook edges out the desktop by just a few seconds, probably because it has fewer device drivers to initialize (the desktop has literally a dozen USB devices hanging off it, plus dual monitors, plus whatever services are configured to run at startup), but the times are otherwise pretty close.<\/p>\n As I said before, the time to “computer usable” for the desktop is pretty horrific due to all the stuff I load on startup (but then again, I rarely reboot the desktop).<\/p>\n It’s also nice to see such great times for Ubuntu – which is what I use by default on my netbook.<\/p>\n Part of the reason I ran these tests is I’ve been mulling over whether to add an SSD or hybrid drive to these computers.<\/p>\n Certainly, the desktop could use the performance boost of an SSD… but my primary boot drive is 500 GB, and I can’t afford an SSD at that capacity (if one even exists!), and I don’t feel like splitting my boot drive so it can fit on a smaller drive.<\/p>\n I’ve heard some decent things about so-called “hybrid” drives, which are affordable for 500 GB, and which would give me a performance boost, especially for boot-up. But at the same time, I have to consider that I don’t reboot often, and is saving, say, 30 seconds of a 2 minute 30 second boot time really worth the cost and effort? Probably not – at least, not yet, not until SSD or hybrid drive prices come down a bit further.<\/p>\n As for my netbook, it boots pretty darn fast as-is, but an SSD would really make a huge difference. I figure an SSD would let me boot into Ubuntu and be ready to go in probably, oh, 10-15 seconds. That would put my netbook nearly as fast for “ready to use” as a tablet computer (e.g., iPad) for a lot less cost, which would be nice. But again, the netbook has a 160 GB hard drive, and although SSD prices have come down a lot, a 160 GB SSD is still a bit too pricey for me at the moment.<\/p>\n Still, these numbers are interesting to have, and I think it’s clear that as SSD prices continue to fall, my netbook will probably get the first upgrade, followed by a hybrid drive for my desktop later on (or possibly an SSD, if prices fall far enough).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Just for fun, I timed how long it takes to start up my desktop computer and my netbook. Guess which one won?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"webmentions_disabled_pings":false,"webmentions_disabled":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"activitypub_content_warning":"","activitypub_content_visibility":"","activitypub_max_image_attachments":3,"activitypub_interaction_policy_quote":"anyone","activitypub_status":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3,5],"tags":[268,23,269],"class_list":["post-3390","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-personal","category-technology","tag-benchmark","tag-computers","tag-performance","entry"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pimUj-SG","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3860,"url":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/2012\/04\/10\/breathing-new-life-into-an-old-netbook\/","url_meta":{"origin":3390,"position":0},"title":"Breathing New Life into an Old Netbook","author":"Keith Survell","date":"April 10, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Lately I had been getting a bit frustrated with the performance of my old netbook, so I decided it was time for an upgrade to a SSD.","rel":"","context":"In "Gadgets"","block_context":{"text":"Gadgets","link":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/category\/technology\/gadgets\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"SSD drive icon","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2012\/04\/Ssd-slick-drive-256-150x150.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4151,"url":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/2013\/02\/13\/new-laptop\/","url_meta":{"origin":3390,"position":1},"title":"New Laptop","author":"Keith Survell","date":"February 13, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"After an extended power outage forced me to work from my netbook, I realized it's time for me to get a proper laptop - and this is what I ended up with.","rel":"","context":"In "My Opinion"","block_context":{"text":"My Opinion","link":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/category\/personal\/my-opinion\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Acer Aspire Timeline X 4830T notebook","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2013\/02\/notebook-acer-aspire-timelinex-4830t-2313g32mnbb-front-300x220.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3101,"url":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/2010\/05\/31\/another-computer-conundrum-a-computer-for-mom\/","url_meta":{"origin":3390,"position":2},"title":"Another Computer Conundrum: A Computer for MOM","author":"Keith Survell","date":"May 31, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"I face another computer conundrum: what sort of computer to get for my mom, a casual user (as opposed to me, the power user).","rel":"","context":"In "tech"","block_context":{"text":"tech","link":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/category\/technology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3412,"url":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/2011\/05\/02\/bringing-back-the-classic-netbook-remix-interface-in-ubuntu-11-04-natty-narwhal\/","url_meta":{"origin":3390,"position":3},"title":"Bringing back the classic “netbook remix” interface in Ubuntu 11.04 “Natty Narwhal”","author":"Keith Survell","date":"May 2, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"How to bring back the classic netbook interface of the old \"Ubuntu Netbook Remix\" (UNR) in the latest version of Ubuntu.","rel":"","context":"In "Software"","block_context":{"text":"Software","link":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/category\/technology\/software-technology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"ubuntu classic desktop","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2011\/05\/ubuntu-classic-desktop-300x225.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3676,"url":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/2011\/11\/23\/bringing-back-the-netbook-remix-in-ubuntu-11-10-oneiric-ocelot\/","url_meta":{"origin":3390,"position":4},"title":"Bringing back the classic “netbook remix” in Ubuntu 11.10 (Oneiric Ocelot)","author":"Keith Survell","date":"November 23, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"How to bring back the old-style \"netbook remix\" user interface in Ubuntu 11.10 Oneiric Ocelot.","rel":"","context":"In "Software"","block_context":{"text":"Software","link":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/category\/technology\/software-technology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2741,"url":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/2009\/08\/06\/my-new-netbook-acer-aspire-one\/","url_meta":{"origin":3390,"position":5},"title":"My New Netbook: Acer Aspire One","author":"Keith Survell","date":"August 6, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"I finally get the Acer Aspire One netbook I've been lusting after - 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\n <\/th>\n Desktop Computer (Windows 7)<\/th>\n Netbook (Windows 7)<\/th>\n Netbook (Ubuntu)<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n \n Desktop Appears:<\/td>\n 1:03<\/td>\n 0:54<\/td>\n 0:36<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Computer usable:<\/td>\n 2:30<\/td>\n 1:30<\/td>\n 0:47<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n