Best Hybrid HDD/SSD Drive?

I have a 500gb 7200rpm HD in my current notebook (a Dell SXPS 1647 w/eSATA port). I have two problems.

The first is not enough space on my laptop (I do a fair amount of video editing and have a massive music and video library I like to keep on me at all times). I also plan on upgrading to a second 1TB drive (both eSATA) so my other one can act solely as a back up. I would like my next drive to be 750gb. I have heard that 1TB laptop drives are more prone to failure. Is this the case for 750?

My other problem is my computer starts up really, really slowly. I plan on reinstall W7 but even when I got it I remember it starting slowly. Will a hybrid HDD/SSD help solve this problem?


I also do not have a fortune to spend <$200. Is it worth upgrading to a hybrid? Are there any negative besides price involved? Is this a good drive at a good price? What drive do you recommend?

Thanks!

 

Well, if you want a hybrid drive, your choices are limited to the Momentus XT, the Momentus XT and the Momentus XT. Yes, they are the only hybrid drives available so your only real choice is the capacity of the drive.

Define slow startup, you should be able to get something along the lines of 1 min to boot in total from pressing the power button to launching your web browser with a semi-clean windows 7 install. I would look for bloatware and unneeded startup entries as the cause of slow boot times first.

 

As tijo said, there's only one hybrid drive on the market, with the only differences being capacity.

Try Start --> Run --> msconfig --> Startup --> uncheck any bloatware. I wouldn't touch anything with "Microsoft" or "Intel" in the name (assuming you're using an Intel CPU).

 

Luckily my machine came bloatware free. I have also reinstalled my OS once before so I do not think that is the problem. All I know is that I often have to force shut off my computer because sometimes when I put it to sleep or try to wake it up from sleep it just hangs and freezes. I then have to force shut it off. Over time, doing this over and over again has probably messed up my system. Again, I probably just need to reinstall my OS.

 

You'd be surprised at the amount of programs you install that also add a startup entry that is completely unneeded. You don't really need bloatware to slowdown startup depending on what you have installed on your computer so it's worth taking a look at your startup entires. I haven't noticed slowdowns and it's been a year since my last reinstall due to getting a SSD.

To name a few:
Adobe Reader
Zune
iTunes
Quicktime