Well, reality is sometimes different from benchmarks.
I decided to go with 1TB 5400rpm disk in a notebook over 500GB 7200rpm one based on charts like this one. I couldn't have done more wrong thing. The thing is crawling, even by notebook standards.
You're also talking about your system drive. For storage, there's very little benefit to 7200RPM.
I wouldn't be so
sure, but you also
may be right. Marketing talk is a bitch in either way.
The first post doesn't have any conclusive evidence, aside from transfer rates (which improve with platter density). I used to work at SPCR. Every Green and Red drive that's ever come through the doors there has been 5400 RPM. There's no debate about this.
I am the opposite in choices for the guy above me.
I have yet to recieve 1 non DOA Western Digital when i buy them in bulk of 10 or more..
Meaning.. ALWAYS... 1 is DOA...
If you've purchased from NewEgg, they've had some pretty horrific handling practices in their warehouses in the past. I've seen plenty of pictures of people with drives shipped without any protective casing or padding (or even a fragile sticker on the outside for that matter).
I've purchased somewhere close to 100 WD drives in the past 5 years for friends and family. I go to the store to pick them up myself though (NCIX has a stores all over Vancouver). Only one of them was DOA (actually, it started throwing SMART errors within a week, close enough). One of them started throwing SMART errors after about two years. My experiences with Seagates have been the exact opposite. They seem fine for a while, but those that fail die within a year or so. I've seen more Seagate failures than any other drive manufacturer in the same time period.
I'd still take a drive with a proper warranty over one without.