WD Scorpio - 320 GB, 7200 RPM

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WD's just released a new line of Scorpio laptop hard drives, ranging from 80-320 GB. They're all running at 7200 RPM - who's pumped for the 320 GB one? The best part is that the highest config will only run you about $250.

 

I wouldn't waste money on a 7200RPM 320GB.Too fast for me

 

Will upgrading from a 250gb 4200 rpm be noticable?

 

At this point, I wouldn't even buy an HDD. I recently read an article about SSD drives going way down in price and Intel is designing an SSD that borders on $1 per GB. I dunno when it will be released, but I'm looking forward to it. HDDs just don't seem like a good option to me anymore. =/

Oh and yeah... upgrading from 4200 RPM will be VERRYYY noticeable. Much faster boot times and overall better response times when opening files like PDFs. You'll notice it.

 

Yes it ll be quite noticeable....
I remember when I upgraded to the 7K100....the new hardrive was really fast compared to my old 5400rpm one....try searching for reviews on it (hdds with 7200rpm)....my laptop's got an IDE port but I heard that SATA 3GB/s are really fast....if ur motherboard supports them..!!

 

Wow, that`s effin expensive.
The 320/5400 one costs like 120$.
WAAAAY too expensive, wth, that`s what a 500GB should cost...

 

Yeah I would stick with the 5400rpm drive, much more cost effective and the performance boost wont be very large IMO.

 

Thanks for the responses and yeah i know

Think i might wait another while to upgrade..

This is a high-end HDD and as such is expected to ship with a big price tag as it's not standard in notebooks or mass produced.

 

When a lot more manufacturers will start releasing it, 200$ and lower price tags should spring into action.
But 250$ is ridiculous, I`d rather buy a super fast SSD for the OS and an external for everything else...

 

Anyone know of any retail outlets that have this drive available?

 

Normally amazon and newegg should start having them soon.

 

i think i may have to test one of these bad boys out

 

the benchmark for the seagate 320gb 7200rpm was really impressive as seen here:

Hopefully the WD counterpart will beat it.

 

The new black WD HDDs are available to pre-order in UK at Overclockers, which suggests they are not far away.

John

 

yea,but at 250$ ? are you willing to pay twice just to go from 5k to 7k rpm?

 

WD Scorpio Black
Price: $229.99
Expected ship date 6/20/08

http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.asp?driveid=482

 

Wow, so you can get a 320gb 7200 drive for 76% of the price of the velociraptor, and it gets 65% of the speed of the velociraptor.
It is still a really fast drive.
Dont fret over the price, as soon as all the big harddrive manufactuers get 320gb 7200 drives on the market the price will drop quite a bit.
Remember when the 7k200 came out, it was about $220, and now you can get it for about $130.

Hopefully getting one of these and a velociraptor for my voodoo. 2 velociraptors may generate too much heat. I will have to see though.

K-TRON

 

WD vs. Hitachi. Which is better?

 

320GB 7200RPM is like $180 while 500GB 5400RPM is $300 (320GB 5400RPM is like $100)!! that's what you get for being king of the hill...

 

Yep, newegg has the WD Scorpio 320/7200 for 179$.

 

Yep...........waiting on mine to get here now.

 

BEWARE! If youre thinking of getting this drive, be aware that it has a higher than usual vibration rate... the platters are crudely balanced and this can double the idle noise of your laptop! Maybe I've just been spoiled with the Samsung HM250JI but the vibration that the WD3200BEKT puts out is outrageous!

 

Mine isn't vibrating anything more than any previous HDD's i've had that's been quiet So i guess your one of the unlucky getting those wich vibrates more.

Though i use rubbergromets(gromits?)

 

maybe my standards are high... but I don't think they are unreasonable...

The T60 already has two rubber sleeves that the drive sits in, even still I could not put up with the vibrations. There is just too much mechanical vibration that is transferring to all mount points! Machine originally has a Seagate 5400 160GB drive in the Ultrabay and a Samsung HM250JI as main. With the Samsung spun up, there is no detectable vibes (or noise for that matter!), With the Seagate also spun up, there is a very, very minor 'resonance' vibration (caused by the slight diff in the two drives' RPM); also the Seagate is certainly not as smooth as the Samsung, but is definately average in terms of 2.5" drives. Then we get the WD! It's about as smooth as your internal slim CD-ROM spining at about 50% of it's RPM.... totally unacceptable for a 2.5" HD! The crappy store I bought it from says I'm out of luck...

Michel, what date was yours made? Also in Thailand?

 

Well i have rubber at all mount points on my hdd, so there can't be any vibration transferring to my chassis! I made the rubber-thingys myself. Try making some at the those points where there isn't any for yours?


Your seems to be broken though it seems to be very loud if it sounds like the CD spinning @ 50%!!!! That's like very loud. I Think all CD-readers are loud though even at low speed.

You should be able to get it changed out if it's that noisy, because it shouldn't be!


I don't know what date mine is made, never checked the label on the HDD before putting it in! Do you know a way to see this software-wise? I bought the drive 2008-09-18 over here in sweden, so it's to be 2months old.

 

sadly there is no more places to put rubber as the drive already sits in a rubber track! It is very unbalanced, like if it sits on a shelf, idling, it will make noises like a CDROM, sometimes the vibes will cause 'buzzing' on a hard surface, but if it's not buzzing from the vibes then you can hear it rumbling the table... low frequency I was really looking forward to performance.

People with similar complaints say even if they exchange the drive, the replacement is the same. I dont want to have to RMA it to WD for the same problem to come back

 

Sure it may have rubber where it is mounted on a caddy, but the the things it mounted in has to be mounted at some spots where there isn't rubber? Or am i confusing you now? hehe


Really sad to hear that some has noise porblems though And i know what you mean, that's not fun at all.

 

tech, obviously you were also looking for a step up in speed when you replaced the Samsung with the WD. How noticeable was the difference?

A Fujitsu 7200k 320 just arrived today. I passed over the Seagate and the WD, not because of performance but because of the checkered accounts of spotty workmanship ie platter balance, noise, etc.

Balance is key to high speed rotational stability and longevity... whether it's computers, cars or whatever. The more precisely balanced an automotive motor is, the greater it's service life and longevity.

 

Noterev, thats EXACTLY what I'm saying! I'm glad that other people have noticed the WD and Seagate balance issues also. Well, I didnt go ahead and transfer my stuff to the WD320 because I don't want to start the ticker on the power on hours and head fly time etc...it's back in the antistat bag without even 10 minutes of powered up time... but yea, quicker xfers and access times is precisely why I bought the new drive, the price was enough to seal the impulse deal.... now I regret it like I knew I would. Now I'm actually appreciative of the Samsung's virtues... quiet, decent sustained xfer speeds and quiet! 17.8ms access is the worst part, though. How do you find that Fujitsu MHZ2320BJ? 320GB drive you got today?

 

Yea, that's the drive. Its still in the bag. I was looking for Samsung's 320 7200's but couldn't find anything beyond 160gigs.