Recommendations for 2.5" 500GB drive?

[basketb]

With the prices for 500GB 2.5" HDs fast approaching my threshhold of $100, I'm wondering which one to get (for a T61p - but these should work in all R/T/X6x and newer models - and therefore this thread might be helpful to more folks than just me). Looks like the following three 5400 RPM drives are available right now (links given for reference only, no endorsement of the merchant(s) implied):

1. SAMSUNG Spinpoint M6 HM500LI
2. Seagate Momentus 5400.6 ST9500325AS
3. Western Digital Scorpio Blue WD5000BEVT

Fairly new and apparently not in stock yet anywhere (and no ETA) is the following:
SEAGATE Momentus 7200.4 ST9500420AS

Opinions appreciated.

[TTY]

I would suggest to consider the Hitachi Travelstar 5K500.

[basketb]

It's a 12.5mm drive and won't fit in the T61p or any other Thinkpad (with the possible exception of the W700, but I wouldn't know) as a primary drive.

[basketb]

bump, I also shortened/simplified the poll. So please vote again (early and often )

[dlai]

Wait for that new Seagate. It should scream in a T61. I have a friend overseas who has one in his MSI netbook and that thing flies with that drive. I have to imagine the same drive in a T61 would yield even greater results than an MSI with an Atom processor. Worth the wait in my opinion.

[A.K.A]

Things you should know:

1. Samsung and Seagate may be less than 500GB (at least 4.5%), because they lucked out when they were sued about the way they count a "gigabyte" (decimal not hex). Western Digital lost their lawsuit, so their capacities are what they say they are.

2. If you look at the Tom's Hardware site for 2.5" notebooks, the Samsung is slow, and the WD is fastest at last survey.

3. WD is cheap. Hitachi and Fujitsu are overpriced.

4. I've heard the WD can be a little fragile, but so far, mine has proven reliable. If you check your drive out as soon as you get it by running a stress test, and then using SpeedFan to get the S.M.A.R.T. data off of it, you'll be able to see whether your drive has any obvious silent flaws. (SMART figures are a little counterintuitive -- the lower the number, the worse off, and each manufacturer uses a different starting point as their ceiling. There's info on the InterTubes on how to interpret it.)

[basketb]

Interesting thread on the Seagate ST9500325AS.

[Radioguy]

I say this as a blanket statement, not specific to one particular drive, but you may find a "crackable" external 2.5" 500GB HD for less than a bare one that would suffice.

I only say it as many on slickdeals.net have posted doing this and beating bare drive prices (I remember seeing mention of Momentus and Scorpio Blue models for instance) Of course, one guinea pig must crack open or otherwise identify the drive in a specific model and post that somewhere first. Many have done that there, and spurred more sales. You may even be able to pricematch or use a coupon to bring that price down more.

Just an idea.

[basketb]

In principle a very good idea. I actually did this several years ago, when a 4GB IBM/Hitachi microdrive installed in a MP3 player only cost half as much as the bare bones drive. Took the microdrive out of the MP3 player and put it in my then new digital camera.
However, for 2.5" 9.5mm 500GB HDs, I have not seen external drives beating the $100 or so that a bare bones drive can be had for right now at newegg, for example. Plus, by removing the the HD from the external enclosure you void the warranty (something I didn't care about several years ago, but do now).

[Radioguy]

Very true about warranties. External drive warranties apply to case and drive as one, and despite not tampering with the bare oem labeled drive within, you have already voided the warranty by getting that far.

However, as far as price goes, I was thinking more of brick and mortar stores than etailers. Factoring in discounts, coupons, and maybe a price match, I think people have still beat newegg or zipzoomfly prices on occasion. Some have balanced the final price versus warranty, and decided it was worth it. Of course, going this route could be time consuming, and if time is money....well, then it may not be worth it.