Best Large (Hybrid) HDD

I recently got an Alienware M11x R3 and have been making do with the stock 320 GB hard drive while trying to figure out what hard drive to upgrade to. My hard drive is completely full - Windows says I have literally 0 bytes free - and there's still a fair amount of games/files (around 80 GB) that I want to install. I was hoping for a Momentus XT refresh, but with no rumors, there doesn't appear to be anything on the horizon. I'd think Seagate would have upgraded the drive after 15 months without a revision. Plus, there's plenty of things that could be upgraded (more space, more cache, more channels, etc.), but I guess Seagate wants to wait for whatever reason. As I said, I need a new hard drive very soon (next month or so), and while I would ordinarily just jump for a 500 GB Momentus XT R1, I've discovered that by the end of the holiday season I'll need more than 500 GB of space for games and such. So that rules out a Momentus XT R1. The question is, do I wait a few more weeks and hope something pops up about a new Momentus XT or get a 1 TB 7200 RPM non-hybrid drive? Thanks for any help in advance.

 

I reccomend getting a large SSD and a nice external its going to be cheaper then getting a fancy hybrid

 

I'd check system restore settings to see if it's set at 15%, which would be consuming up to 48GB of space with restore points.

Start > right click Computer > Properties > System Protection > Select the OS drive > Configure > Look at what is "current usage" and what Max usage settings are. Change as is appropriate. I've got my SSD set to 5%.

If you're running Vista, the steps are a bit different and need to be done through the command prompt. I can find you instructions if you need.

This should free you up space while you find a solution to your problem.

Getting an SSD/HDD combo setup may be nice, but it is in no way cheaper than a hybrid HDD or a large HDD on its own. Hitachi just released a 750GB 7200RPM that's on newegg for 89.99. It's not a hybrid though.

 

Don't expect any hybrid refreshes.

 

Why?
10char

EDIT: I just realized I have 2 rep!! I'm so proud of myself.

 

It may be cheaper, but I have no desire to constantly have an external drive plugged into my laptop.

@anseio I checked and unfortunately I'm only using 4%.

 

Also, if I were to get a 7200 RPM 1 TB hard drive, which one would be the best, considering I value cache highly?

 

As far as I know, at the moment the only 1TB drives that are available are:
Western Digital Scorpio Blue 1TB (WD10JPVT)
Samsung Spinpoint M8 1TB (HN-M101MBB)

Both drives are 5400RPM and have 8MB cache.

 

I know there are more 1 TB HDDs than that as I saw a ton on Google Products. This appears to be the best one: Western Digital WD1002FAEX 1TB Caviar Black Hard Drive - 1TB, 7200RPM, 64MB, SATA 6Gbs at TigerDirect.com
What does everyone think? And again, why does Seagate refuse to refresh the Momentus XT?

 

Oh, my bad. I automatically assumed that you wanted a 1TB drive that you could put into your laptop.

 

I do...are there really only two 1 TB laptop drives though? Wouldn't any 2.5" drive fit into my laptop?

 

I'm pretty sure that there are only two 2.5" 9.5mm height drives at the moment.

The drive that you linked is a 3.5" drive.

 

lol

Too bad the m11x doesn't have a ODD, or you could've added an HDD Caddy.

 

Does it have to be 9.5mm?
Also, wouldn't the Momentus XT work as it's 2.5"? In which case wouldn't it be beneficial to just wait for a refresh as I'd really prefer to avoid a 7200 RPM drive?

 

Most laptops do not support 12.5mm drives, and they certainly do not support full on desktop drives.

 

Ah, I see. So would this work? Amazon.com: Western Digital WD Scorpio Black 750 GB SATA 3 GB/s 7200 RPM 16 MB Cache Internal Bulk/OEM 2.5-Inch Mobile Hard Drive: Electronics
I don't need a TB of storage, I just need more than ~600 GB.

 

yup this will work....
this is by far the fastest hard drive for laptops i believe....

 

Hitachi just released a 750GB 7200RPM and it's on Amazon and Newegg for 89.99

 

Does anyone know what its reliability is? I can't seem to find many reviews. Also, is there a such thing as an external HDD that connects wirelessly? Like via Bluetooth or something? It'd be awesome to just put like a 64 GB SSD in my laptop to run the OS and my most used programs and then to have everything else on a wireless external drive (if they exist, which I doubt).
If I were to get an external wired drive, how big are they generally and what would be the smallest one I could find?

 

Hitachi is very reliable. The 500gb 7200rpm is both fast AND silent. I can only expect the same out of the new drive. I'll be ordering one in the next few weeks.

 

Good to know the Hitachi is reliable. I'm definitely gonna consider that along with the WD Scorpio Black. One more question, though: As I mentioned above, is there a such thing as a wireless external HDD? And what's the smallest (in terms of form-factor) external HDD?

 

I found this: Amazon.com: Iomega iConnect Wireless Data Station 34779: Electronics. However, on second thought, I realized that I wouldn't want to have to transmit my games wirelessly as it would result in a huge FPS drop, correct? Assuming that's correct, would those of you who have used an external HDD say it's worth it to have an SSD and an external HDD? I would probably put in a 32 or 62 GB SSD and then put all of my games and such on this ( http://www.amazon.com/Oyen-Digital-External-Portable-Drive/dp/B004AGPQYU). Is it a big hassle to mess with or would I get used to it?

 

WD Scorpio Black 750GB is going to be a Newegg Shell Shocker today fyi.

Newegg.com - Western Digital Scorpio Black WD7500BPKT 750GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache 2.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Internal Notebook Hard Drive -Bare Drive

 

@madmattd
Thanks for the heads up!
So, peoples, is the consensus to get the Scorpio Black or to get like a 120 GB SSD and an external HDD? As I said, I'm just a little concerned that it'll be a hassle to keep an SSD plugged into my laptop the entire time I use it.

 

Also, does anyone have ideas on when the Revodrive Hybrid will come out? It was scheduled to launch in July but I know that didn't happen.

 

You do realize that the Revodrive is PCIe based, right? Not to mention OCZ/SF based. A writeoff at step one...

 

I'm using a 500GB Seagate XT Hybrid. Couldn't be happier. Here's how it performs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8n3fraKjHE

For my usage it's much faster than a Scorpio Black and only slightly slower then SSDs.