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    What is the 750GB 6Gb/s drive used in M17xR4?

    Discussion in 'Alienware 17 and M17x' started by Gm17, Aug 16, 2012.

  1. Gm17

    Gm17 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Hi, that's my first post!

    A M17xR4 is on the way. When ordered I was given the option of
    "Hard Drive : 750GB 7,200rpm SATA 6Gb/s HDD" which I took.

    I had a look at packing slip and there was the
    "Iem Number:400-25334 Description:MOD,HD,750,7.2,P11,4KE,SGT-DRU" for the drive.

    So, it must be a Seagate, but only seagate of 6Gb/s is the "momentus XT"
    is that what I will be getting?
     
  2. widezu69

    widezu69 Goodbye Alienware

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    You are right, not the XT it is a seagate 7200.4 drive, a regular Momentus one.
     
  3. Gm17

    Gm17 Notebook Enthusiast

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    I thought so.
    In an XPS17 l502x it was a ST9750420AS and I guessed I would be getting one of the same but this is an 3Gb/s or am I wrong??
    If the latter is the case then why it is stated as 6Gb/s??
     
  4. widezu69

    widezu69 Goodbye Alienware

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    Well the ports on the laptop are 6GB/s but regular hard drives cannot saturate that anyway so it doesn't matter.
     
  5. Mobius 1

    Mobius 1 Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    The only 750GB HDD that exist with SATA 3 6G/s is the Momentus XT (which Dell is to stingy to include)
     
  6. Gm17

    Gm17 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Well, the 6Gb/s is about the HDD description, not the laptop ports or anything.
    Am I missing some marketing trick here?

    Thanks for the replies!
     
  7. widezu69

    widezu69 Goodbye Alienware

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    Yeah they show the HDD as 6GB/s because it's plugged into a laptop that is capable of those speeds when the drive isn't. Maybe the HDD is actually 6GB/s but either way, only SSDs can get to those speeds anyway.
     
  8. Gm17

    Gm17 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Nice marketing approach!

    Elaborating it a bit, if the 6Gb/s is the capability of the laptop where tha HDD is placed, then surely the 7200rpm must be the capability of the Ferrari where the laptop needs to be transferred!

    Seriously, if it is like this it is a clearly misleading description!
     
  9. Architechnicality

    Architechnicality Notebook Enthusiast

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    It may be misleading, but most people that buy alienwares understand the capabilities of HDD's. I'm not ridiculing you, just offering maybe a possible, positive explanation for the description.
     
  10. Drunken1

    Drunken1 Notebook Consultant

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    Yep, I checked AlienAutopsy and mine is a Seagate ST9750420AS
     
  11. Alpine7907

    Alpine7907 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Has anyone ever had luck requesting specific brands in a system from Alienated?
     
  12. Gm17

    Gm17 Notebook Enthusiast

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    I do understand the capabilities of HDD's, by the way the momentus XT is considered an HDD according to THIS page.

    HDD's of 750GB - 6Gb/s do exist so when I order an HDD like that I expect to get one like that.

    I cannot find any positive way to justify the description as I am still unable to find any technically reasonable explanation in order to label a 3Gb/s HDD as 6Gb/s.

    Anyway, I will soon have the laptop on my hands and will post the findings.
     
  13. Gm17

    Gm17 Notebook Enthusiast

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    It is verified to be a Seagate ST9750420AS, the "momentus" SATAII, 3Gb/s.
     
  14. harolds

    harolds Notebook Enthusiast

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    The description is just telling you that it is connected to one of the Sata 3 ports, for which the motherboard has 2. So if you have plans on adding an SSD drive you'll want to make sure the port you add it to is a Sata 3. I got mine with an msata drive which you also want connected to one of the Sata 3 ports.