Seagate Momentus XT Hybrid Drives - Questions?

Considering one of these to replace a crashed HDD in a DV6 but have a couple of questions.

Assuming a replacement 750 GB HDD would cost $100, is a $200 750GB Momentus XT worth the double cost for a user who is just an everyday web browsing, MS app using, music downloading and social networking person?

Comparing the Sata3 750Gb to the Sata2 500Gb Momentus XT, is the extra $65 worth the potential doubling from 3Gbit/sec to 6Gbit/sec and will my Sata3 laptop even use that high 6gbit transfer rate?

Finally, how is heat and dependability for these drives versus a plain jane 750Gb 5400 WD Sata Drive?

 

Anything that's not an SSD can barely achieve speeds that would max out a SATA I connection.

 

Thanks!
So one question answered... if I don't need the extra 250Gb space, the cheaper Sata2 500Gb Momentus XT would give me max performance and be cheaper.

 

If you are only using windows + chrome/ie/firefox w.e + IM + MS Office then momentus hybrid would be perfect imo. OR if you dont need the storage space, go for a small SSD?

750GB vs 500GB, major difference is not the SATA III vs II. It is more about 8GB vs 4GB NAND.

If you don't use CD drive often, probably can try small SSD + HDD.

 

Starting to think that maybe I can use this HDD crash to upgrade my own laptop. I can give the DV6 the 750Gb HDD from my DV7 and then replace it with a 500Gb Momentus XT. That way, the DV6 gets the same performance and storage capacity as before and I get an upgraded performance. And, Can still add an SSD to the second bay in the future if I want.

 

Honestly, if you wanted to keep things fairly cheap and simple then a 500gb Momentus XT will suffice. The 750gb is marginally faster and 50% bigger but you pay a $80 premium. I don't think SATA2 and SATA3 makes much of a difference as these hybrid drives aren't fast enough. With either hybrid dive, you will noticed faster bootup and shutdown speed as well as repetitively used apps\games.

If you do choose to add an SSD in the future, the SSD should be your new primary and your XT should be your second bay drive. There is no point in putting an ssd in the second bay as you will not reap the benefits.

 

okay... thread closed and thank you to everyone who helped!!!

 

I just installed the 750gb version do to needed space.It replaces the 320gb XT version and I really can't tell the difference so if you can get by with the 320 do it.

 

I just bought a barely used 500Gb XT for $95.
I figured at a price of a regular HDD I can try out an XT.

But, since this is a used drive... does the on board NAND slow down or stop working after so many writes like some SSDs?

 

Eventually, that will be the case with ALL SSD NAND Flash.

But don't worry:
a) It is SLC based Flash which I believe will withstand 10x longer writes.
b) Since the SSD portion is used as a READ only cache, it is written to less often than the number of writes on the drive.

HTH

 

From Ebay? I just sold one on ebay for roughly that price on the weekend.