Seagate Momentus XT compatible with T series?

I just ordered a new T420 (as I posted in the other thread) and just ordered it with the base 250gb 5400rpm drive.
I plan on replacing that drive right away with either a WD Black 500gb or a Seagate Momentus XT 500gb from Newegg.

Is the Momentus XT compatible with the Lenovo Thinkpads? I saw on the Seagate forums they mentioned some Lenovo owners were having trouble updating the firmware, but I couldn't find specifics on what problems they were having.
Seems like it should be compatible with any current SATA laptop out there, not sure why a Lenovo would make a difference (seems like quite a few Apple owners couldn't update FW either, thats a little more understandable, since they're all thinking different).

 

Your mileage will vary with the hybrid. Some people have good luck. Others, not so much. I would not personally buy a XT. But that's just me.

 

Yeah, I'm debating the value of the extra $30 on it vs the WD Black.
I typically launch the same programs every day so I was thinking it would benefit me, but at the same time there are equally negative to positive reviews out there, so I'm hesitant.
Also, all my HDs in all the desktops I've built and laptops I've upgraded have been WD, not sure I want to switch brands after never having a prob with WD.

Forget I asked, after reading too many threads on Seagate's forum it looks like with even the latest FW people are having odd freezing issues they did not have with normal HDDs.
I'll be going with the tried and true WD notebook drive.

 

I have XT installed on T410i and do not have any problem so far. I upgraded the firmware to SD24 before installing.

 

Personally I would save up for a ssd + regular hdd in ultrabay. Just get the regular hdd now and add a ssd later on if you have the cash.

 

I personally never experienced any of the excessive clicking/vibration or freezes people had. SD24 firmware apparently fixed alot of that. My MomentusXT was very disappointing for me.

 

+1 - You really do have the best of both worlds with this scenario. I have a 80GB Intel SSD as my primary drive for the OS and apps (where speed is critical) while the rest of my files such as music, pictures and documents are stored on my 500GB HDD via the Ultrabay caddy (where capacity is more important than outright speed). The HDD in this scenario doesn't need to be fast, a 5400RPM drive will do the job nicely (as well as being more cheaper and energy efficient) so you can afford to bolster the capacity.

The setup enables me to not worry about running out of space on the SSD, but also without having to moan about the HDD not being fast enough to load things up!

 

+1.
Any HDD won't be better than REAL SSD.

 

Know of a place where I can get an inexpensive HDD ultrabay adapter for the T420 (I assume it is the same as the T410 one).
The cheapest I found was eBay for $50, thats only $10 off retail. The only cheap ones on eBay are for the T60 series and below (so they state), and are they reliable being off brand?
As of current shopping, adding an 80gb SSD and ultrabay adapter is going to cost me at least an additional $180 or so, which is tough to swallow being a grad student.
It already sucks I'm having to replace this crappy Dell that is essentially new.

 

For $47 you can get the real thing from Lenovo.

 

Rather expensive to buy from Lenovo given OP debates over 50$ price difference between Black and XT HDD's.
They should cost far less than 50$ from ebay, check worldwide sellers and not just those from your country.

+1 regarding SSD+HDD combo, I cant justify spending so much for XT and its debatable speed gains over regular 7k HDD.
Im waiting for Intel to release its 3rd gen SSD's and buy it when they hit 2x the density for the same price as current SSD drives. Probably later this summer?

 

MomentusXT weren't meant to be any faster in terms of read/write speeds over a normal 7200 rpm 2.5" SATA drive, but having 4 GB SLC for your most commonly used files was so it would boot faster and your most commonly used files/programs would be more responsive.

 

I know it, but given reports regarding issues with flash/drive failing that surfaced from users I dont think that spending premium for such minor improvement and risk of very little benefits, no benefits or even failing hard drive can be justified. Id rather get 40-80gb SSD drive and use ultrabay/external HDD setup.
But thats just me.

 

I don't trust user complains as they typically are biased.

I used the MomentusXT for 2-3 weeks (minimum for it to "learn" from your usage) and it boots no faster than my 5400 rpm drive(s). The idea of a hybrid drive was good but in actuality it is hardly faster than a standard 7200 rpm drive. I would just get a WD5000BEKT for 60 bucks as a secondary.

 

Do you guys think this HDD SATA bay adapter will work?

SATA IBM hard drive bay adapter

 

When it comes to SSDs, there's a lot of FUD out there. Simply put: with modern SSDs, there is absolutely no evidence of higher rates of failure than conventional drives.

The "reports regarding flash drive failures" that have surfaced are from the unlucky few who did have a faulty drive and, rather than understanding that both storage technologies aren't perfect, extrapolated from their experience to conclude that there was some underlying, widespread reliability problem with SSD tech.

There isn't.

 

I was talking about problems that XT users have encountered and that Seagate has been working on to fix.
I am not talking about SSD's.