Travelstar 7k500 or WD Blue 500?

[jetmn]

I was pretty set on getting a WD blue 500gb drive for my T60, but I found a deal on a Travelstar 7k500 drive for basically the same price. I believe I have a Hitachi drive in it stock (100gb 5400). I haven't been able to find much on the Travelstar 7k500, but I did find one review comparing it to a WD black 320gb. Will the 7k500 have much of an advantage over the blue 500gb since we can only run sata I? Anyone running a 7k500?

Price for a Blue is $80 shipped and the 7k500 is $88. Thanks!

[EOMtp]

7K500 -- nothing beats these Hitachi (formerly IBM) drives for top performance and ultimate robustness/reliability.

[blgaarder]

Where did you find it in stock?

I've been watching for the bulk encryption version since November, when volume shipments of the 7K500 were supposed to begin and I also watch for the plain version.

I can't find any in stock anywhere and some of the prices are quite high.

The 7K320 drives also seem to be in very short supply, as if they stopped making them before November.

One review is at
http://www.pcshoptalk.com/content.php?2 ... Hard-Drive

[jetmn]

I'll post up once I get a shipping confirmation, I don't have anything yet...

[jetmn]

Nice! My drives just shipped! They are on sale at Microcenter right now, web only. If you are lucky enough not to have one in your state you are looking at about $81 for one.

[ajb]

Another vote for the 7K500. I had one installed in my T61p over the holidays. The thing rocks! Fast... quiet... tons of space. What's not to love?

AJ

[jetmn]

Yep, got mine installed last night then upgraded to Win 7. Holy crap! Things are MUCH faster (I know it is a combo of the 2). The drive is silent and doing the R&R to Vista Ultimate was much faster than with the old 100gb 5400 travelstar. I am very happy! The drive is silent also, which most others aren't. I saw complaints about the WD blacks and Seagates, that is why I was leery about this one. I can't hear a thing though.

[visch1]

"7K500 -- nothing beats these Hitachi (formerly IBM) drives for top performance and ultimate robustness/reliability."

I don't know much about the present Hitachis but have experianced the problems with the "Deathstar" Not very reliable back then.

[Harryc]

'Deathstar' was a word play on IBM/Hitachi's Deskstar...a desktop 3.5" Hard Drive. There were never rampant problems with Hitachi's 2.5" laptop drive line. The've been used in Thinkpads for years.

[visch1]

I wasn't sure but thanks for noting the difference. I sure had my issues.

[wap32]

7K500 -- nothing beats these Hitachi (formerly IBM) drives for top performance and ultimate robustness/reliability.

I really can't agree, of about 20+ hdd's I've handled and used, the only ones that ever gave problems were two Hitachis (2,5") and one IBM (3.5").

The Hitachis just developed bad sectors out of the blue, one of them later started having mechanical problems and crapped out and the other still works but is unusable due to the huge amount of bad sectors.

I usually go with Western Digital for hdd's, I have 5 of them working non-stop, one for about 6~7 years 24/7, and so far, zero problems.

Maybe I just got unlucky with the Hitachi/IBM models, but I certainly don't want to risk buying one again.

[jawhitti]

I've got a WD Scorpio Black 7200rpm 320GB drive in my T61p. Quiet. fast, works great.

In the past I've had the Hitachis - they were fine too. Ultimately they're probably going to be neck and neck. If you want fast you should be looking at the x25m (That's my plan for my next laptop - 160GB x25m and something like the new hitachi in the UltraSlimBay...

[agarza]

7K500 is a 7200rpm drive versus the WD 500 which is 5400RPM.
Benchmark indicated the 7K500 is bloody fast, so if you're looking a speedy drive this is one up for grabs.
I hope in next years high capacity 2.5 drives prices dive real low.

[phrider]

Fry's Electronics had the 7K500 500GB versions on sale prior to yearend 2009. These were the version without BDE.

Has anyone found a source for the Bulk Data Encryption model? That's part number 0A72345 for the 7K500 500GB Travelstar with BDE.

[bmwman91]

I am running the WD Blue 500 in my T60p, and it has been fine. I do not trust Hitachi HDD's, personally. My experience in mechanical test engineering has involved Hitachi HDD's in various products, and there is a reason they cost less. I would not buy one, but that it me.