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    Which 500GB drive?

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by Isend2C, Jul 20, 2009.

  1. Isend2C

    Isend2C Notebook Deity

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    I'm going to buy a second Hard Drive for my Studio 17, it has to be 500GB. I was wondering which one to get. I like the Seagate Momentus 7200 rpm drive but it seems as if a lot of the reviews say that it falters out on them. How much of a hit would it be to take a 5400 rpm drive? 5400 rpm is all that I've ever had.

    This hard drive will be mostly for music, videos & pictures in this laptop, but it's going to my next one where it'll be for everything. I can afford any of the ones on Newegg right here.

    Thank you very much everyone :)
     
    Isend2C, Jul 20, 2009
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  2. sgogeta4

    sgogeta4 Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    You won't notice too much difference. The 7200RPM will have lower access times and slightly better R/W speeds, but not near what it should have been in theory. It really depends on the cost between the two.
     
    sgogeta4, Jul 20, 2009
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  3. Isend2C

    Isend2C Notebook Deity

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    The cost difference is about $20-$30. The 7200 rpm drive is $120, all the others are a bit lower
     
    Isend2C, Jul 20, 2009
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  4. Isend2C

    Isend2C Notebook Deity

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    Thank you, I just ordered the Western Digital Blue 500GB 5400 rpm drive for $95 from newegg.
     
    Isend2C, Jul 21, 2009
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  5. flipfire

    flipfire Moderately Boss

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    Hitachi and WD's 500gb drives have the best power consumption. They are overall ranked very well on reviews.
     
    flipfire, Jul 21, 2009
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  6. Phil

    Phil Retired

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    Good choice. It's the best combination of performance and power consumption.
     
    Phil, Jul 21, 2009
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  7. btogrman

    btogrman Notebook Enthusiast

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    I want to buy 2x 500GB drives, and the only ones I have my eyes on are Western Digital's Scorpio Blues 5400RPM.

    I found that if you go to dell's business website > accessories > scorpio blue 500 gb > cart

    and enter XTHR0RQRXJHQ12

    You can buy them for $80 with free 2 day shipping.
     
    btogrman, Jul 21, 2009
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  8. Isend2C

    Isend2C Notebook Deity

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    Dang. I could've saved $15 bucks versus Newegg. You should get the btogrman. I think it's a good investment, I use up GB so fast.
     
    Isend2C, Jul 21, 2009
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  9. btogrman

    btogrman Notebook Enthusiast

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    Sorry man. I now how it feels to miss a deal. =(
     
    btogrman, Jul 21, 2009
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  10. Trottel

    Trottel Notebook Virtuoso

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    The Toshiba definitely has the lowest consumption.
     
    Trottel, Jul 21, 2009
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  11. sgogeta4

    sgogeta4 Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    Which Toshiba drive? Where are you getting this info from? I thought that it used 3 platters, hence it would have more power consumption.
     
    sgogeta4, Jul 21, 2009
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  12. Trottel

    Trottel Notebook Virtuoso

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    Trottel, Jul 21, 2009
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  13. sgogeta4

    sgogeta4 Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    Interesting. I wonder if any NBR users can give some real usage data on their 500GB drives. Tom's Hardware lost a lot of credibility here...
     
    sgogeta4, Jul 21, 2009
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  14. Trottel

    Trottel Notebook Virtuoso

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    I've seen a couple other reviews including power usage, but none include the Toshiba drive.
     
    Trottel, Jul 21, 2009
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  15. Phil

    Phil Retired

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    To add: Toshiba has the lowest power consumption in idle. Hitachi has the lowest power consumption for streaming reads.

    If power consumption is priority the Toshiba or Hitachi should be picked.

    I would prefer the WD though because it consumes only a little more, but it's faster.

    Well I take their benchmarks with a lot of salt because they're all synthetic. But I believe their power measurements.
     
    Phil, Jul 21, 2009
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  16. flipfire

    flipfire Moderately Boss

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    Kevin created a gadget hooking up 2 multimeters to this board. Ill see if i can find the photo of the whacky gadget.

    He started using it for the power consumption results of the Travelstar 5k500.B review which was very accurate.
     
    flipfire, Jul 21, 2009
    #16