hitachi 7k320

OEM - original equipment manufacturer
I won't go into much detail.

OEM - Bare HDD in ESD packing (With a small piece of H/W stuck to the packing)

Retail Kit - Box/Packaging, Diagnostic and Software Disc, HDD....(Generally -> +$15-20)

Warranty Cover is normally the same for both, but when buying OEM, check that you get at least 3 Years Warranty Cover from the Manufacturer.

 

Yes, yes. I have contacted Hitachi GST too, and they say that the disk is shipping and I must contact my retailer. I have contacted every retailer in my country listed on a Hitachi site, and NO one has it. I can't even find it anywhere on the internet. I wrote to SPAN.com, they have it in the shop with status "comming soon", yes, they also have no idea when is coming.

Anyway, I found a strange version. As you know, we are looking for the part "HTS723232L9SA61". On some sites, non-BDE disk ("HTS723225L9A360") is listed as "0A57547" and they also have more expensive version "0A57527" with "BE" in the name. I thought, that this "BE" more expensive model could be the BDE version, but those serials aren't on the Hitachi site. I wrote Hitachi GST again, and they responded:

So, again, its bad. I have been waiting for this drive since June. Grrrrr.

 

Wait. Why are the drives all bad? You are saying that all 7k320 drives retailers sell are bad?

 

What are you talking about? My native isn't English, so maybe I wrote it wrong or I don't understand you, but seriously I don't know what do you mean.

 

i just installed the 320 gb hitachi ,super silent , no vibration at all runs cool and fast !! best drive i've had so far . don't even no its running it's so quiet

 

I think those are the 250 GB versions of this form factor -- although I haven't found a cross reference between the Hitachi model numbers and their part numbers.

See the part info in the brochure at http://www.hitachigst.com/tech/techlib.nsf/techdocs/03E516A3C41738C78625743B005AD957/$file/TS7K320_DS.pdf

I, too, am very frustrated with Hitachi customer support's "it's out there" statements when, in fact, we can't find anyone that has ever stocked it.

PS: Here is someone in the UK carrying the 160GB BDE version of the 7k320 series (but I want the 320GB BDE version of the 7k320 series)
http://www.memory-express.co.uk/820..._Disk_Drive_7200rpm_SATA_16MB_(Internal).html

 

Stunner seems to have misundertood Commander's comments.

I believe that Commander is saying that the Hitachi information on the availability of the BDE version is wrong. Hitachi says the retailers have it, but that it is very popular and they can't keep it in stock. Commander and I can't find anyone that has ever carried the drive. So I don't believe the drive has been released to the retailers, although it may have been released to laptop and other manufacturers.

So Hitachi's information on availability is "bad" -- this is not about whether or not the drive functions well or not. We don't know about that since we haven't managed to get our hands on a BDE version of the 7k320 drive.

 

phrider: yes, you are right. Hitachi support is rubbish.

Your link to 160 BDE version seems wrong too, depending on the part number on that side. BDE versions have "1" as their last digit. As I saw on many sites, delares has no idea whot their selling and simply copying "some text" as a info. Only thing what matters is part number...

I am really sick of searching right now. It seems impossible to find this drive. BTW, I searched for 7k200 BDE for fun - they are on the market for a long time - and I results are not better.

phrider, what to do? Buy common 7k320? I think that Seagate has 320 GB 7k rpm drive with FDE, which is some thing like Hitachi BDE... Do you know anything about that?

 

I have had good luck with the Hitachi drives in noise, heat, and reliability, so I will hunt a bit longer.

If I don't find the BDE drive, I'll probably buy the regular Hitachi model. If I find the BDE model later, I have an extra drive for backups.

I haven't found any of the mailorder sellers offering the Seagate FDE model either....


PS: On the Seagate website, the largest laptop drive with FDE is the Seagate 5400 rpm model with 160 GB capacity. So Seagate doesn't even have a model announced at 7200 rpm and 320 GB with FDE. Hitachi has at least assigned a model number -- even it the model has only been sold to "secret" buyers (as in we can't find any).

 

Yea, I searched Seagate website too with the same result. I wanted to write them a request about that, but in the second step I had to register! I hate this, so no Seagate then...

I am really sick of searching right now. I'll buy regular 7k320 and will hope that no ***** will nick it. I like Hitachi drives too, I had about 6 of them before and all of them was great.

 

Hitachi is now saying that the next batch of BDE 7k320 320GB drives will be available in October. And that the last batch was very popular.

 

How do you know this? From Hitachi support? Who know, if they will be aviable and even "buyable"...

 

Yes, from Hitachi. I've left you a private message with more details.

 

$20 price drop on these bad boys

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822145228&Tpk=7k320

... and it comes just after mine ships... nice

 

Dang!!!

Two days ago, Newegg was out of stock, and they cost $159.

So I went to Macsales and paid more....

 

Yeah... I purchased mine from Newegg on Friday for $159. It's being delivered today. Figures the prices goes down once I finally take the plunge

 

Got a Seagate 7200.3 320GB for testing purposes. It lives up to its synthetic performance numbers but I think it is hellishly loud, at least in my D630. Besides 7200rpm`s usual whirring sound it also clicks irregularly, like moving its heads from the parking ramp and back. It didn't behave as such when it was in my desktop, or I didn't hear it. I was thinking of buying it out but now I'm moving towards the 5400.5 320GB, though it has rather poor access times.

 

Thats weird, the D630 is built like a tank. Quite thick. I could barely hear a 7K100 installed in it.
Anywayz, you should checkout the Hitachi 5K320 as well.

 

There are ways to avoid the clicking. I am not sure about it but on is in NHC.

Also HD Tune pro can help. It can make the noise lower.

 

I got my 7k320 installed in my D830 today... I love it!! It ran constantly for about 5 hours while I formatted, reinstalled XP, and installed all my (tons of) applications. I might notice a slight increase in heat, but nothing more than body temperature. As far as noise and vibration... almost nonexistent! There is a very slight 'hum' of a vibration under my palm, but I really can't even feel it.

All in all... I love the 7k320 right now. Hopefully it holds up well. I can't mention any batter increases, as I have yet to test it.

 

So I finally bought 7k320 320GB (non BDE).

What a disappointment! It vibrate a bit! I feel on the keyboard and all notebook body small vibration, and I really don't like it. I swap again to my 7k100, and this is super-silent without ANY vibration.

I will probably send it back, and try WD. Any opinions about noise and vibration on WD?

 

D@mn, you people are funny ...!

 

Try installing HDTune Pro and setting a different noise level. That may solve the 7K320 vibration.

What laptop do you have?

PS. please next time do not double post your message as it is against the forum rules.

 

I, too, have given up on the BDE version. The Hitachi sales rep has not called as promised.

I've gotten the non-BDE version, and I have no issues with it. I switched from the 7k100 to the 7k200, and now to the 7k320. Each new model seems to have been cooler and quieter than the prior one.

You may have gotten one with problems.

 

PhilFlow: does decreasing noise level also speeds down the disk? I dont want that...

phrider: Are you really sure that your 7k320 doesn't vibrate at all? I tried it in my Lenovo T60 and also in a Sata Adapter in my Docking station, and no difference. The drive is still not formated, only plugged. I didn't want to formate it, because of warranty if I go to change it to WD.

 

Decreasing the AAM value to 128 will slightly reduce average access times by a couple of milliseconds. Thats it !

(I think the default AAM value for HDDs is 128)

My 7K320 and WD3200BEKT, did not vibrate. Try cleaning it up, delete all partitions and start fresh. Or get it replaced.

 

I have two 7k320's and they are whisper quiet, they do not produce any noticeable vibrations, so it may be the way in which your harddrive is mounted in your laptop. You may want to try using small rubber grommets to mount the harddrive, to absorb some of the vibrations created from the drive.

K-TRON

 

I've tried my 7k320 in the rubber mounted carrier in my Lenovo Z61p, in the Lenovo UltraBay, and in an external SATA USB drive case. All have been quiet.

Could it be because you're testing this with an unformated drive?

 

I thought the prices had come down. Seagate's $109 now, almost certain it was $129 last week, probably dropped in reaction to Hitachi's drop. Almost enough to make me buy Seagate's drive ($30 less than Hitachi right now), but I finally made the effort to free up hard drive space so I don't need a new drive.

Course the other factors are that 7200 RPM capacity has increased by 1.6x in a year and 500 GB is coming next quarter, and that my Hitachi drive (160x7200) is doing great. So there's an inescapable feeling that buying now even at these prices is buying right before a big capacity increase. But that's a good dilemma to have .

 

The clicking comes from a (most of the time hardcoded) bios settting for hdd power-savings on some notebooks.

The 7200.3 needs a value of 255 which you can not set in nhc and "hdtune pro" does not read the seagate correctly.

I solved it by using the software hdparm

( http://sourceforge.net/projects/hdparm/)

with the command "hdparm -B 255 hda"

this disables the power management and stops the clicking noise

I made a script .exe which keeps it in that state even after suspend. If someone is interested i could upload it here.

 

I think Seagate/Maxtor have their own tool for setting the AAM value at their site. NHC and HD Tune will do it as well, but HD Tune doesn't work well in Vista, and NHC won't work in x64.

 

Canada has cheaper prices on the Seagate than the US? That's pretty much unheard of.

I just ordered mine for $79.99 (320GB Seagate 7200.3, not the G-Protection model).

The Hitachi's are expensive up here.

 

You might as well forget about hardware encrypted HDs.
In my opinion ASIC ("hardware") assisted encryption hard drives are only useful if the drive can be locked down to a particular system, like via TPM. Too bad modern TPM implementations don't include an encryption accelerator, that would help. However only being able to accept user-known keys; it's even more exasperated within corporations: You don't want the user entering non-changeable keys they have to remember (which increases the chance they will simply write it down).

If you're really paranoid, a combination of TPM tying the hard drive to machine, a thumbprint storing the key to the HD and passwords for your OS. That doesn't exist on the consumer market, though. But seriously at this point, you're probably a secret agent in the CIA shuttling around classified info--no one really needs security at this level.

Otherwise just get a normal 7200RPM HD and use BitLocker or the other encryption methods. I heard the performance drop for the HD itself is about 5-10%. In terms of CPU usage, I see MINIMAL CPU use (like less than 10%) when the HD is spinning using AES-128 encryption WDE on a Pentium-M that's 4 years old.. So battery life shouldn't really be an issue, either.
A cold boot attack while some claims makes bitlocker vulnerable, a non-chaneable, unmanageable HD key a user needs to remember is probably MORE insecure.
Heck the 320GB 7200RPM Seagates are going for under $100 readily available. You're gonna be paying probably around $250 for an encrypted version of the 7K320, that's assuming the ones they are selling aren't pawned off regulars and ACTUALLY have the encryption accelerator chip, and if you can find one.

 

Please, how this utility work... In the folder there is not .exe file! I'm under winXP.

Thanks

 

Mwave has the 7k320's for 109.90 (OEM) + shipping....just bought one last week, can't wait for it to get here. I currently have a Hitachi 100GB 7200.

http://www.mwave.com/mwave/review.hmx?scriteria=AA73824

 

it will be a nice upgrade. I upgraded from the 7k100 to 7k200 and than to the 7k320 and every new generation gets quieter and faster.

K-TRON

 

There are 3 files in the zip archive.
1. Unzip them
2. Run the hdparm installer (hdparm-6.9-20070516.win32-setup.exe)
3. Run unclick.exe

The clicking should have stopped by now.
You can create a shortcut to the unlick.exe into the windows "autostart" folder to run it directly on boot

 

Thanks a lot! Prema

 

So I picked two of these babies (OEM models) up, and stuck them into a generic enclosure that I bought recently. They are recognized as USB Mass Storage devices on my Vista 32, but there's no way to access them. Any tips or ideas?

Power is getting to them as the "busy" light goes off and I can definitely hear it spinning or feel it vibrating.

 

Checked Disk Management ?
Drive might need initiation or needs to be partitioned, if new.

 

Good call. Totally didn't think about that.

 

When I got my 7K320's, I was off at college, but over the phone I told my 8 yr old brother to test them.
He plugged the sata cable into the board, and the appropriate sata power cable, and the drive was recognized by xp, and that was all.
He did not have to go into disc management, and he didnt have to format it.
It should have just worked out of the box.

K-TRON

 

Hmmm, just got out of class. Checked on the formatting. One of them has been initialized and formatted, but still same result as before. Will try the other to see if it's the same.

My laptop recognizes that there is a USB Mass Storage device attached, but it cannot be used as far as I can tell.

 

What drive letter did you assign it in Disk Management ?
You made a partition in it ?

Try deleting all the USB controllers in Device Manager, and let them be reinstalled themselves.

Or, see if it is detected using GParted.

 

No.

No.

I was trying to use it as an external hard drive, so I figured I shouldn't give it a drive letter. Apparently giving it a drive letter leaves it being recognized as a Hard Disk Drive, rather than a removable device. That said, it can be safely removed, so that will work.

Thank you for your assistance.

 

Ok. Basically storage devices need a drive letter and be partitioned, just like a SD Card/Flash Drive.

 

Just an update for folks on the BDE version of the 7K320 drive - you'll need to order P/N 0A57527 if you want the encryption-capable version of the drive.

Part Number: 0A57527
Model Number: HTS723232L9SA61
Model Name: Travelstar 7K320
Capacity : 320GB
Interface : SATA 1.5Gb/s
Customer Code : Generic/ Retail Distribution

I just received my 0A57527 7K320 drive, and it does indeed have the correct model number and "SECURITY" stamp at the bottom right of the label on the static bag.

FWIW, the part number (0A58917) below is the OEM version of the drive, and can't be ordered through retail channels:

Drive Details :
Part Number: 0A58917
Model Number: HTS723232L9SA61
Model Name: Travelstar 7K320
Capacity : 320GB
Interface : SATA 1.5Gb/s
Customer Code : OEM

 

I've finally found a e-tailer that has the p/n 0A57527 in stock: NowDirect.com. Buy.com has the model on their web site, but it is not in stock.

arlut -- any suggestions on setting up this drive?

 

I received the p/n 0A57527 Hitachi 7K320 with the BDE feature from www.NowDirect.com

It's setup and working in my Lenovo Z61p with an Admin and a User password.

 

WOW I cannot believe that it is available . Sad thing is, that NowDirect doesn't sell to Europe.

BTW, if I put 320GB NON-BDE version which I have now to my Advaced dock, and BDE crypted 320GB to T60, will the backup work? I mean, if my T60 will be stolen or HDD damaged, can I have my data back from non-crypted HDD in the dock? I don't know, if the backup process works like that it will simply copy files (then this will probably be no problems) or, if the backup creates HDD image, which will be crypted?