Arrangements and methods for implementing a “spin-down policy” for HDD motors that is “smart”, flexible and admirably achieves an objective of ensuring prolonged motor life as just discussed. To this end, one specific implementation involves (among other things) the addition of a dedicated cache that acts as a buffer element of sorts for writing or obtaining data during a period when a motor may be spun down, especially (but not necessarily exclusively) in instances when a notebook needs to be running for a large portion of the day. Other analogous implementations are of course possible that would achieve similar ends.