best 160 gig drive for Macbook?

[grum]

Ok so I want the biggest HD possible but I dont want to go down to 4200 RPM. Does anyone know which is the best 160 gig 5400 RPM PMR drive? There are models by Hitachi, Fujitsu, now Samsung and Western Digital as well http://www.europc.co.uk/pages/ProductDetail.aspx?PID=77050&refId=froogle

I'm kind of guessing the WD one would be best as they have a good reputation but does anyone know if there are any benchmarks available or indications of which would be best?

Thanks in advance.

 

[SpaceMagic]

I'm also on the lookout... I'm going to see how I cope with the signature mentioned MacBook first and then wait until drive prices come down (cos they are!)... then I'll get a 5400rpm 160 or 7200rpm 160.

 

[SiliconAddict]

Seagate IMHO. http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Seagate/ST9160821ASK/

I purchased it for my MBP. I've never been disappointed with Seagate. That and the drive comes with a 5 year warrantee which I THINK is an industry leader.

I'm also on the lookout... I'm going to see how I cope with the signature mentioned MacBook first and then wait until drive prices come down (cos they are!)... then I'll get a 5400rpm 160 or 7200rpm 160.

on't expect to see a 7200rpm 160GB drive out anytime soon.

 

[XP Defector]

The 7200 Vs 5200 RPM argument does not hold as much importance as far as PMR and Serial ATA are concerned. The two latter technologies have apparently increased substantial speed improvements. Here is a hard disc that offers both of them, and apparently uses less power than the standard MacBook drive.

http://www.macheaven.co.uk/?page=proddetail&prod=19998

I'm probably going to buy one soon, not bad for £100

 

[venin]

Im thinking of buying a 120 gig hard drive for my macbook, and was under the impression that 7200 rpm took more of the battery than 5400 rpm.

Then I found this article,

http://www.storagereview.com/articles/200511/notebook_7.html

I know its IDE and not SATA, but does that matter?

Any comments or experiences?

 

[grum]

OK I found these articles

http://tomshardware.co.uk/2006/03/03/notebook_drives_at_up_to_160_gb_put_under_the_microscope_uk/
http://barefeats.com/mbcd7.html

Seems that the Hitachi Travelstar is faster than the Seagate. Interesting point from the barefeats article:

but if you have 74GB of data on each of the drives, the 4200rpm drive was actually faster. That's because 74GB of data puts the 7200rpm drive at 80% capacity while the 200GB 4200rpm drive is only at 40% capacity.

The WD one claims to be the quietest.

Found this which is pretty interesting as well.

Hitachi has unveiled its laptop-use hard drive product strategy for 2007, announcing 200GB 2.5-inch TravelStar spinning at 7200rpm and a 250GB 5400rpm unit. Two Travelstars will become available in the first and second half of 2007, respectively.

Both Travelstar drives will use perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) technology and hard-drive-level data encryption as a new feature for added security.

http://laptoping.com/hitachi-travelstar-250gb-200gb-7200.html

Maybe I will stick with the stock 80gig drive for now and get one of these bad boys when they come out.

 

[vgoklani]

take a look at these reviews before making your choice:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/CustratingReview.asp?item=N82E16822148073

 

[grum]

take a look at these reviews before making your choice:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/CustratingReview.asp?item=N82E16822148073

Thanks, those reviews are not for the SATA version though - I dont know if the drive is identical apart from that?

I am leaning towards the Hitchi Travelstar at the moment - seems to be the fastest, and is also cheapest. My only concern is whether its a little noisy.