Please recommend me a laptop HD? :)

[Mohdoo]

Hello, everyone Good day/morning/evening/afternoon, where ever you may be...

I'm looking to replace my current laptop hard drive. It has come to be a bit slow and a bit small for my taste.

Currently, I am using this 7200RPM 250GB HD: http://www.seagate.com/ww/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=e81342b3f64f9110VgnVCM100000f5ee0a0aRCRD

I would like something a bit faster and a bit bigger. I would really not like to get an SSD, though I do use one on my laptop. Well, let me rephrase that. I would LOVE an SSD, but my budget ($150 max) does not allow for an SSD of that size.

So, recommendations?

 

[jjmIII]

That's easy

Seagate Momentus XT ST95005620AS 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache 2.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s with NCQ Solid State Hybrid Drive

 

[jjmIII]

Or.....

a cheap SSD and put your old 250gb in the external for storage

Kingston 64GB SSDNow V Series Drive second-generation SATA2 2.5 Notebook Bundle,part# SNV425-S2BN/64GB (notebook bundle***)

 

[sub.mesa]

I would recommend a small SSD as system disk in your laptop (Intel 40GB for example) and a 2,5" external HDD connected using USB; these should only have one cable thus no separate power plug.

This would get you both speed and performance. If you do not mix SSD and HDD then you can NOT have both and would have to choose between performance (SSD) and storage capacity (HDD).

 

[Blain]

The Momentus XT is marketing hype.
Just go with a 500GB Momentus ST9500420ASG.
It's cheaper than the hyped XT and you'll get the G-Force feature (which the XT doesn't have).

 

[jjmIII]

Seagate's Momentus XT Reviewed, Finally a Good Hybrid HDD

As a third choice I like the WD Black.

 

[corkyg]

Well, I can attest to the fact that the Seagate Momentus XT is NOT marketing hype. I have installed two of them and will go for two more on a different laptop. They do learn - and each time the system is booted and programs loaded, they get a little faster asd those files are placed in the Nand 4 GB chunk.

I see them as a good, solid, cost effective improvement over the Scorpio Black 7200s they replaced.

Needing for OS drives, I find SSDs somewhat out of reach and impractical at this point.

 

[tcsenter]

Can't wait for mainstream or value segment SSDs to come down another 30 ~ 40 percent.

 

[FishAk]

That's easy

Seagate Momentus XT ST95005620AS 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache 2.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s with NCQ Solid State Hybrid Drive

+1 Unless you have 2 drive bays, I wouldn't get anything less then the hybrid drive. For the price, you can't get anything comparable for convenience of space, and speed at this time.

 

[Blain]

Well, I can attest to the fact that the Seagate Momentus XT is NOT marketing hype. I have installed two of them and will go for two more on a different laptop. They do learn - and each time the system is booted and programs loaded, they get a little faster asd those files are placed in the Nand 4 GB chunk.

I see them as a good, solid, cost effective improvement over the Scorpio Black 7200s they replaced.

In the Tech Report XT review, I didn't see that much of a difference in the hybrid drive.
Is there enough of a performance difference between the XT vs it's 7200.4 brothers to justify the price premium ($130 vs $75... $60 if you don't care about G-Force feature))?

 

[anishannayya]

In the Tech Report XT review, I didn't see that much of a difference in the hybrid drive.
Is there enough of a performance difference between the XT vs it's 7200.4 brothers to justify the price premium ($130 vs $75... $60 if you don't care about G-Force feature))?

As an owner of an XT drive, I can tell you that they do in fact work. What we have here are two owners telling you that they work well, and someone who has never actually used the product telling you that it is BS. Who would you rather believe?

I have 3 laptops: one with the XT, one with an SSD, and one with a soon to be slow 750 GB HDD.

The SSD laptop never leaves the house and is just a couch PC, so it doesn't need data storage. The Momentus XT is perfect for a compromise between data storage and speed. The 750 GB HDD is for max data capacity. This HDD is slow, but since this computer has 8 GB of RAM, I'm not concerned. The only time I notice a speed decrease is when reboot or first launch an application. After that, everything is cached in the RAM for fast access.

If I were you I would pick up an XT. Get one off of Newegg if you don't want to wait forever to get your hands on it.

Essentially the XT will cut boot time in a third or half, and same with initial program loads. The SSD would do the same, except be even faster. Think click on the program, and its already loaded. If you don't need storage space, go for an SSD. If you need the space go for the XT. If you want to save $40, then go for the regular Momentus. IMO, while the XT drive is overpriced, it is the only product like it, and it does in fact offer a significant performance boost.

 

[corkyg]

In the Tech Report XT review, I didn't see that much of a difference in the hybrid drive.
Is there enough of a performance difference between the XT vs it's 7200.4 brothers to justify the price premium . . . ?

I pay more attention to the real world than to reviews. The short answer to your question is "yes!" In my world, a $40 premium is not really significant.

BTW - I saw a 3.5" in hybrid yesterday on the shelf at BestBuy. Not too sure about desktop/floortop advantage - but in a laptop used on the road, the hybrid really is a plus. It seems to get better with every boot.