Seagate just launched one. Is that the first? anyone know the performance details? the premise is good, Lower power consumption, faster performance, less chance of damage because the plates spin less.
hopefully they get software and bio sorted out so these can become standard in a few months.
Good interim solution to SSD future
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Looks like overall those drives are currently a big disappointment, though that might change in the near future...we'll see:
http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=9195 -
John Ratsey Moderately inquisitive Super Moderator
Samsung released a hybrid HDD some months ago.
John -
Apparently Seagate's blaming Vista for poor flash management and hence not-as-good performance. I wonder if Vista is really bad at flash management - Robson technology comes to mind
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dont think its the first because im pretty sure the Sony SZ models have them (atleast the SZ6 does i believe - 160gb with 256mb)
would be sure of that if it wasn't damn columbus day and usps doesnt deliver that day.... -
seems like driver problems.
Im guessing they are priced between HD and SSD? Couldnt find any pricing -
Id rather just go full SSD
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CalebSchmerge Woof NBR Reviewer
I the end full SSD would be better, however right now when prices are so ridiculously high for SSD, I would rather a good HDD than SSD.
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I see your point, Id rather have a good HDD and wait for the prices to fall on SSD. Would feel a bit short changed with hybrid drive.
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ToxicBanana Notebook Consultant NBR Reviewer
Finally some Hybrid competition.
My HDD is the loudest, hottest, and slowest component in my notebook - hopefully these hybrids will be the cure to all my problems. -
Hybrid drives are more prone to driver issues than regular harddrives IMO. A hybrid drives has to convert the information into something the flash memory can read and vice versa for every operation. This could be a pain in the rear everyday use that does alot of small I/O operations rather than one big I/O operation.
Flash memory only has a performance boost in read operations. When it comes to write operations, it's not necessarily faster than regular harddrives. Flash memory write operations first start with a complete wipe of the cluster they are writing to. Then they rewrite the WHOLE cluster. That's why their performance gains are sometimes lower than regular harddrives. While they may read faster than regular harddrives, alot of write operations can take just as long. -
Alienware has been offering them in their laptops for a while.
HDD | Hybrid Hard Disk
Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by Macpod, Oct 8, 2007.