G73JH with new seagate hybrid drives

Hi all

Read online tonight that Asus are supporting a new release by seagate called monumentus xt hybrid drives

Apprantly they perfom much like a ssd and asus have decided to use them in a version of the g73.

Apparently, based on a 2.5" mechanical drive, they include a solid state flash area which speeds up to 10,000rpm and increases perfommance no end.

Anyone have any info on this and specifically if they are going to be available on new orders from the UK?

Steve

 

No info, but was reading somewhere that this technology is actually quite old. But nice to see it finally in a consumer product.

 

I am actually pretty surprised it has take this long to produce such a product. It sounds like a pretty simple concept. But then again, I have been wrong about much simpler things before.

All in all, I think that the prices these drives are priced at make them pretty darn tempting. I think I may have to snatch these up after I see some official reviews.

 

See this post for more info:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus/485288-new-g73-model-2.html#post6271210

 

Here's an update on the new seagate hybrid drive: bottom line, take home note, "the Momentus XT performs like a VelociRaptor, but in a lower power, quieter package".

Read full review HERE.

 

I bet that they wont be available for us Brits or anyone in Europe for quite some time! - and when they do become available, yep - we over in the UK will have to pay through the nose for it as usual i would imagine.

Based on the same version of the A1 (we have G73JH-TZ008V i think its called) which currently cost £1800 over in the UK.

I hate this country lololol

 

That's true about the high prices of tech goods in the UK. However, us folks in the US don't get good Indian food on every other block nor can we find authentic English bangers and mash or a bag of pork scratchings!

 

..........ahhhhh, am man after my own heart....sausage and pork crackling!

 

I wonder if the refreshes at Best Buy will have models with this?

 

Well, it looks like in some cases it performs as well as the 10,000rpm velociraptor, but that's mostly where it is using the on-disk solid-state cache. It seems more like just a slightly better form of Windows' superfetch which caches commonly-used programs in the RAM for faster loading.

The faster boot times look especially nice, but for someone who plays a number of different games on a regular basis, I doubt it will be able to provide significantly superior load times for all of them (since each game probably uses 1gb+ for the engine and textures and shaders and whatnot, and the cache can only prep up to 4gb).

That being said, it looks like an excellent drive, and a pretty reasonable price.

 

Yeah, but it's still a Seagate and that's what worries me.

 

Most likely not:

 

It costs $300 more to add the Momentus drives to the G73? I read on Engadget the NAND chips only add $40 or so. What's with the huge markup?

 

It was mentioned in the webcast that the units will retail for $1800. They did tests where they loaded games 3 times in a row and the first time the drive showed load times similar to a 7200rpm drive, by the third time it was only 4 seconds off of ssd speeds.

 

im just wondering when they will be available in the uk models as im looking to buy NOW but i would hold off if they hold a relatively decent advantage over normal mechanical drives....obviously dependant on how much us Brits would be stung for in order to get them!

Wonder if you can buy them as a seperate upgrade or even if its worth it?

 

A good video comparing SSD-Hybrid-10,000rpm-7,200rpm from Tiger Direct site:

Dailymotion - Momentus_XT_Benchmarks - a Tech & Science video

$129.99 -15.60BingCB

 

Availability in UK anyone???

 

I'm guessing most likely not since Asus will only offer the hybrid drives in limited quantities even in the US. You can however purchase the drive separately, or at least you can in the US. Chances are if you're looking to buy in the UK, they probably won't be available until a few months later if they do surface up at your local stores.

 

Maybe i should phone asus uk and check it out....ive got to the crux of buying and dont wanna hold of endlessly as technology always moves faster than i do!

 

It's available at Newegg right now. 1799.99 instead of the rumored 1899, but how long will it stay at that price?

Newegg.com - ASUS G Series G73JH-A3 NoteBook Intel Core i7 720QM(1.60GHz) 17.3" 8GB Memory 1TB HDD 7200rpm BD Combo ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870

 

I think that's a misprint and should read A1, not A3. The only difference is the DVD vs BD for $50 more.

 

was anyone (other then me) on the Webcast? I one the 2nd G73 given away, but, the email they posted was (and still is) bouncing.
I called one of the panelists after the webcast, but don't have the exact specs, and can't seem to find the webcast online yet. I'm going to call Seagate's Cali HQ on Monday asking for answers of delivery etc.

 

I was in on that too, waste of time for me since I didn't win one. Lucky you.

I was trying to ask questions about the creative drivers conflict and how many units come back with psod's to no avail. I'm on my second rma because of my screen blanking out, hopefully third time will be ok.

 

gstboy - that's because the event WASN'T about the G73, but about the Momentus XT ... ONE of my questions was "Why 4gb? Why not 8, 16, or more gig's of ram?"

 

Maybe the question should have been:

Will the Momentus XT drive increase the crashing of the Creative software vs returned units ratio?

Right up to the word "increase" you've got them interested.

Did you receive an answer?

Although, I suspect the answer has to do with trying to get people to purchase what they already have, by later selling them the "improved" version.

 

I know I know, I was bored and I only sat through that thing for the chance to win something. I knew they were going to ignore me but just thought I'd throw them out there.

 

Kalim - yes, I received a reply... a new Asus Laptop. haha but seriouslt, they said mainly to keep prices 'low', they stuck w" SLD (or SLC I cam't remember) RAM... and they thought it "unnecessary" to have more... I want to relisten to that part again... but can't find the webcast.

GSTBoy ... I wasn't aware of ROG laptops before I won. LOL everything Ai know, I learnt Since May 26th. haaha. I just miss being in the tech industry ... it sucks being a security guard at times.

BUT after playing with it (a BestBuy G773JH-a1 yesterday) I am in loooooooovvvvveeeeee! haha

 

Seagate's official claim is that the 4GB size offered the best balance of price/performance.

 

so.....assuming the the Newegg G73jh-A3 really does have the new hybrid drive, do you think the hybrid drives and blue ray are worth the extra $250 over the G73jh-X1?

 

This thread kinda got off the intended drift.....i was asking if they are available in the UK.....not from new egg or wherever in the US...thats totally irrelevant for me and of no use at all

 

Everyone should be so lucky to be able to find out for themselves.

Congrats.

Really? Unnecessary? I can understand wanting to keep the price low, but unnecessary seems a bit extreme.

Yeah, I didn't attend, but also went looking at the Seagate site for the webcast and didn't find it. Was it audio only or was there also video?

Not really. Your question was answered in post #4. The new G73JH is only available from Newegg and Amazon in limited quantities.

 

the panelists were video feeding, and had PPT's up as well.