In other threads in the last few days, you might have noticed my frustration boiling over with the "chugging" sound of the Seagate drive in my i5. I exchanged the computer at the Apple Store but seeing how so many other people were reporting the same "rumbling" sounds, I hesitated for a couple of days before opening the new computer's box. I was considering returning it unopened for a refund and waiting a month or more before buying a new one, in case the annoying problem was sorted in a future batch.
But I gave in and opened it Saturday... and I'm mighty pleased I did!
My heart sank a bit when I saw it contained a Seagate as before I'd been hoping for a Western Digital but after using the replacement i5 for a few hours, I can report that this is undoubtedly the quietest drive I've had in any Mac.
So far, all I've noticed is the very lightest whir when coming out of sleep. I have to put my ear right up to the computer to hear any other sounds at all. I haven't stressed the drive yet (no games or major projects), but after some time on the web, playing back music files, watching a DVD, a quick bit of photo retouching and copying some CD tracks to the desktop and editing them in Peak Pro, everything has been noiseless. So obviously I'm happy and if things stay this way, I'll be overjoyed.
To those with a noisy Seagate in their i5, and who are hesitating to exchange it because there might not be an improvement, I really do suggest you do NOT accept it as normal or unavoidable I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt that the Seagate drive I have on this i5 (ST31000528ASQ) is the most silent I could wish for. And so far, I've seen no screen issues or any other problems. I hope I'm not talking too soon, but as of this minute, I have a computer that fully lives up to the expectations I had at the outset.
But I gave in and opened it Saturday... and I'm mighty pleased I did!
My heart sank a bit when I saw it contained a Seagate as before I'd been hoping for a Western Digital but after using the replacement i5 for a few hours, I can report that this is undoubtedly the quietest drive I've had in any Mac.
So far, all I've noticed is the very lightest whir when coming out of sleep. I have to put my ear right up to the computer to hear any other sounds at all. I haven't stressed the drive yet (no games or major projects), but after some time on the web, playing back music files, watching a DVD, a quick bit of photo retouching and copying some CD tracks to the desktop and editing them in Peak Pro, everything has been noiseless. So obviously I'm happy and if things stay this way, I'll be overjoyed.
To those with a noisy Seagate in their i5, and who are hesitating to exchange it because there might not be an improvement, I really do suggest you do NOT accept it as normal or unavoidable I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt that the Seagate drive I have on this i5 (ST31000528ASQ) is the most silent I could wish for. And so far, I've seen no screen issues or any other problems. I hope I'm not talking too soon, but as of this minute, I have a computer that fully lives up to the expectations I had at the outset.