iMac G3 hard drive upgrade - IDE or ATA?

I have an iMac G3 400 Mhz (slot loading) and would like to upgrade the hard drive. It currently has a 10 Gb which, according to the system profile, runs on ATA protocol. I've researched the upgrade procedure online (it's lengthy!) and several sources have said to use an IDE drive. My question is. . which protocol is the right one to use?

Also, is there a limit to the HD size I can upgrade to? I know the old tray loaders need to have the HD paritioned if it's over 8 Gb, but I haven't run across any such limits on the slot loaders.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!
-r

Bonsaichop said:

IDE is ATA, so to speak. They're one in the same drive. Just goto your local (insert computer store you like here) and pick up an (insert size)GB Ide hdd. Do not pick up a SATA drive, they will not work in your imac.

The easiest way to make sure its IDE and not SATA is that it should have 2 rows of pins about 2.5 inches long I cant remmeber but i think its 20 pins per row.Whereas the sata drives only have a little stub.

I don't think there are any issues with the slot loading imacs. This shouldnt be a problem.

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Thanks Bonsaichop.

I think I'm going to upgrade to an 80Gb hdd. They're pretty cheap these days and it will provide plenty of room for backup of my 12" PB. Additionally, I'm curious about how much the faster drive will speed up the iMac. I just hope I don't get on the inside and screw anything up.

-r