something eating at my disk space

You should have at least 10% of your hard drive free. So, if you have a 60GB drive, for example, you want 6GB+ empty for systems use. Less than that, and the system will use up the available space, which impacts system and application performance, as you've found out.

is that why the powerbook was advertised as 60GB when in reality it's only 55. something?

No, see this on why the difference: http://compreviews.about.com/od/storage/a/ActualHDSizes.htm

Homer,
You are setting yourself up for a major system failure, in which case, you will lose everything. "Doh!" 😟



I have no idea what is consuming your disc space, but as advised, get at least 6GB of free space (10-12GB is better) on your PB and keep this space or you could be looking at replacing a dead hard drive.




One of the most common unrecognized disc space consumers is Podcast subscriptions. They will accumulate until there is no space left.

Homer:

First think to do is to clear up some space on the HDD to give you some breathing room, then we will work to see what is eating your disk space. Dr. Smoke's FAQ Freeing space on your Mac OS X startup disk will help you get there. Once you have freed up a bit of space download and run Disk Inventory. It will scan your drive and list the contents by size. Review the list looking for unusually large files/folders, or any suspicious looking ones. Report back what you find. Meanwhile, review the article Where Did My Disk Space Go?

😉 cornelius

Check Console for any logs that are getting written to over and over and over. HP had some software a few years back that did this, FYI.