Seagate Momentus hybrid drive

[Cooperman]

Just wondered if anyone had experience of running one of these hybrid drives on a T61 if so, which OS.

[TuuS]

I've read a lot of reports that they tend to hang a lot, my guess is the firmware trying to decide if data should be written to flash or platter disc... and since the whole purpose of adding ssd is to stop the unit from being slow... what's the point in installing one if it's going to make it even slower.

Just read the reviews on some of the major retailers websites.

My advice is if you want ssd, get an ssd drive, but also be careful what type you get, many have problems and a far higher failure rate then traditional drives, and when they do fail, they don't do it gracefully, they just go poof and all your data is lost.

I don't care if a drive is the fastest in the world, if all my data suddenly vanishes every 6 months, then any price would be to high, even free. If a drive isn't going to be reliable, I won't use it.

So far the only brand of SSD I'd consider is Intel. They did have one serious issue, and fixed it very quickly, but check reviews if your considering a purchase.

[Cooperman]

Thanks Tuus, I will stick with my hdd

[Chris2011]

I just purchased a ST9100821AS Seagate MOMENTUS 100GB 7200 RPM HARD DISK DRIVE. SATA because that was what was in my laptop. I did a windows update and it overpowered (I'll say) my drive and now my laptop won't boot. Did I waste my money on the seagate HDD?

[TuuS]

I just purchased a ST9100821AS Seagate MOMENTUS 100GB 7200 RPM HARD DISK DRIVE. SATA because that was what was in my laptop. I did a windows update and it overpowered (I'll say) my drive and now my laptop won't boot. Did I waste my money on the seagate HDD?

Sounds like you got a bad harddrive, but if it was purchased new, contact seagate support, if it was used, contact the seller.

This specific topic is about a hybrid drive, a completely different type of drive that is part solid state, part platter. They have been problematic so I didn't recommend it (my personal opinion, others may recommend it), but there is nothing wrong with the seagate momentus line of traditional harddrives that I'm aware of.

[Chris2011]

Sounds like you got a bad harddrive, but if it was purchased new, contact seagate support, if it was used, contact the seller.

...but there is nothing wrong with the seagate momentus line of traditional harddrives that I'm aware of.

Thanks, TuuS. The seagate hdd was originally in the thinkpad. I am buying a replacement and just opted to buy the same since I don't know anything about HDDs.

[jdrou]

I've been running the 500 GB Momentus XT hybrid for over a year in my Precision M4400 with no problems.
There were quite a few problems reported when it was first released but most of them seem to have been resolved by firmware updates; I installed the latest firmware before I started using mine.

[TuuS]

I've been running the 500 GB Momentus XT hybrid for over a year in my Precision M4400 with no problems.
There were quite a few problems reported when it was first released but most of them seem to have been resolved by firmware updates; I installed the latest firmware before I started using mine.

The reviews seem to have a mix of reports like yours, and stories that it rutinely hangs for a second or two, sometimes more then 2-3 times in a minute, even with the latest firmware. This is why I encouage people to read the reviews.

I think a better design for a hybrid drive would be one that had about 20gb of SSD and 500 of platter, so instead of having firmware trying to guess what data to write to SSD, let the user decide and install the OS and common apps on the SSD partition, then use the platter for storage.

ps. thanks for some positive feedback, it's refreshing to hear some good experiences with these new technologies

[jdrou]

Also have the new 750GB XT that I'll be installing in my W520 one of these days. We'll see if there are any problems with that one.