NEWZ: Seagate Releases 120GB & 100GB 2½ Inch Notebook Dr

[Explorer]

• SCOTTS VALLEY, Calif.—18 April 2005— Further strengthening its position in the mobile computing market, Seagate Technology (NYSE:STX) is expanding its line of notebook hard disc drives with the industry's highest capacity and performance for applications ranging from high-performance mobile workstations to mainstream laptop computers...
  
  ...Highlighting Seagate's notebook product line are 7,200- and 5,400 -rpm models that provide the highest capacities available - 100GB and 120GB , respectively - to help meet growing demand among mobile users for notebook computers with greater performance and storage capacity.

Full press release here:

http://www.seagate.com/cda/newsinfo/newsroom/releases/article/0,1121,2695,00.html

 

[LunarMist]

When? I could really use a 120GB drive by early August.

 

[Santilli]

Yes, I'm in line. My Panasonic, I'm using for email, could really use the speed, and capacity boost.
s

 

[LunarMist]

I'd be happy enough with a 120GB 5400 RPM drive, but the majority of users will probably desire the 100GB 7200 RPM drive. I don't expect much improvement from the current 100GB 5400 RPM drive, but the extra 20 GB will be appreciated. The 1Ds MK II's RAW files fill CF cards and hard drives at an alaming rate.

 

[Groltz]

Seagate announced the 7200rpm notebook drives in JUNE 2004.

Anyone seen one for sale???

 

[Pradeep]

I'd be happy enough with a 120GB 5400 RPM drive, but the majority of users will probably desire the 100GB 7200 RPM drive. I don't expect much improvement from the current 100GB 5400 RPM drive, but the extra 20 GB will be appreciated. The 1Ds MK II's RAW files fill CF cards and hard drives at an alaming rate.

Tell me about it. We are looking at an Ultrium3 autoloader (3.2GB native over 8 tapes) for backups at work because of the humungous file sizes

 

[LunarMist]

3.2TB?

 

[Pradeep]

Yup, TB

 

[LunarMist]

Seagate announced the 7200rpm notebook drives in JUNE 2004.

Anyone seen one for sale???

NO. I upgradode to a 100GB 5400.2 in January. The box was labeled 7200 RPM, but the drive was 5400 RPM. I purchased another 5400.2 later in the week from a different location and noticed t5hat the box was overlabeled 5400 RPM. Maybe Seagate expected to produce 7200 drives, but who knows for sure.

 

[LunarMist]

Hooray! The 120GB Monumentus has finally hit the streets. The question now is whether it is reasonable to buy an OEM notebook drive from Neweggs. Has anyone purchased an OEM hard drivos from them recently? Two years ago the OEM drive I received from Newegg was badly packaged (really scary). Thanks.

 

[i]

Based on one experience last year I will never buy hard disks from Newegg again. Not ever.

And given one other order-foul up, and their occasionally absurb shipping prices, I avoid them as much as I can for everything else, too.

 

[LunarMist]

Thanks. I still have three weeks left. Perhaps they will carry the retail version. The price is usually the same, but it will be protected by the retail packaging. I usually receive NeEggd Fedex Saver shipments in 2 days.

 

[ddrueding]

I recently recieved a 2.5" Samsung SATA drive from newegg as part of a larger order. The drive was in a sealed anti-static bag in a small box along with some OEM CPUs, RAM and peanuts; then put into a larger box with other components and more peanuts. Considering the beating laptop drives are designed to take, I'd say this is pretty good.

 

[LunarMist]

The last order I placed for an OEM notebok drive was early 2003 and it was in a box with some other small items and peanuts. However, the flat side of the drive was right up against the box. The drive was and is still fine, but made me nervous. however, I notcie dt hat tehre are only two Seagate reatil notebook drives listed - 40 and 100 MB. Perpahsp tehre will be no 120Gb retail drive?

 

[LunarMist]

There is no editing I presume.

 

[sechs]

I wouldn't order drives from Newegg. Mine came wrapped in some bubble wrap, free-floating in a sea of packing peanuts. None of this extra packing material was antistatic.

 

[LunarMist]

According to the specs, the drive is rated for 900G of non-opertting shock. I wonder if Neweggs and the FedEx will subject it to more shock than that? The whole thing is making me very nervous. Who would you order this notebook drive from?

 

[Tannin]

I thought hard about ordering one of those. My 80GB Samsung 5400 is always full, and it gets tedious finding stuff to remove all the time.

100GB 7200 or 120GB 5400? Easy: fast is good, big is gooder. Besides, the extra power consumption of the 7200 is a factor.

But Seagate? Hmmmm ..... My laptop is pretty important. I back stuff up pretty effectively when I'm at home, and burn CDs on the road, but ......

Right now I have a Samsung. Is 50% extra space worth the downgrade to a Seagate drive?

In the end, I decided it wasn't. I'll get by on 80GB until Samsung make a 120.

 

[i]

According to the specs, the drive is rated for 900G of non-opertting shock. I wonder if Neweggs and the FedEx will subject it to more shock than that? The whole thing is making me very nervous. Who would you order this notebook drive from?

Definitely NOT from Hypermicro. I have no energy to describe my last experience with them (~2 years ago now I guess), but it was lousy.

Lunar, you suggested ZipZoomFly back in January for hard disks. Seeing as how I never go for cutting edge stuff, I don't what their selection is like, but I had no problem with their shipping methods for the couple of drives I've ordered from them since then.

As for Newegg, I came to the conclusion that, as they make you go through the drive manufacturer for warranty issues, what do they care about how they package the drives?

 

[LunarMist]

Tony,

Is there a problem with Seagate notebook drives? I have a couple of the 100GB 5400 drives and although the total run time is low, they work fine so far. The idle and seeks are really quiet, which is nice compared to the 5400 RPM Hitachi/IBM drives. My reasoning for wanting 120GB is rather complicated, but I have an excessive paranoia about data loss that requires triplicate storage. Currently I have 100GB in the old P5K notebook, 100GB in an external enclosure, two 80GB portable storage devices, and 60GB is another external enclosure. The problem is that the 16.6 megapixel 1Ds MK II fills disk space like crazy and 80GB is really marginal for a 16-day vacation. Instead of juggling the notebook and four drives, a 120GB drive in the notebook and two portable storage devices of 100GB would be perfectly matched for triplicate 100GB storage as the other 20GB would be sufficient for OS/apps and a few working files.

 

[LunarMist]

Lunar, you suggested ZipZoomFly back in January for hard disks. Seeing as how I never go for cutting edge stuff, I don't what their selection is like, but I had no problem with their shipping methods for the couple of drives I've ordered from them since then.

They are not yet listed at ZZF, and they are often slow to get the latest new products.

As for Newegg, I came to the conclusion that, as they make you go through the drive manufacturer for warranty issues, what do they care about how they package the drives?

Perhaps I misunderstand, but does Newegg not replace any defective device within the first 30 days? That is how I recall it was a couple of years ago when a CPU died.

 

[Tannin]

Not that I know of, LM. It's just that they are ... well ... from Seagate. In all probability, they are likely to be just as good as anything else. But my most recent experiences with Seagate drives in any number have been very poor. That's not very recent, and it was desktop drives, not notebook units, but they were piss-poor reliability-wise a few years back, and the bad feeling persists.

If the Samsung in my laptop karks it one day, I'll be seriously inconvenienced and put it down to sheer bad luck. But if I bought a Seagate and it karked it, then I'd be equally seriously inconvenienced, but also feel extra bad because I'd blame myself for being such a bloody fool as to buy a Seagate in the first place.

It's not exactly logial, but there you have it. These days my laptop drive is the most important drive I have (i.e., most-used, most inconvenient to replace) and I just don't feel comfortable using anything less than the most reliable brand I know of (Samsung).

Does measured desktop drive reliability actually have anything to do with the reliability of the same firm's notebook drives? Quite possibly not. But why take chances?

It comes down to a balancing thing: is 50% greater capacity worth an unknown greater risk? Right now, no. I can get by with an external 200GB USB/Firewire drive and by burning extra CDs. Sometime in the future I will really need that capacity. But, with any luck, by then Samsung will have a bigger model, so I won't have to trust Seagate after all.

Or maybe I'll take a punt on Hitachi. I'd feel pretty comfortable with a Hitachi notebook drive.

 

[i]

Who is it here who refers to them as Hibachi drives? I can't remember now. I really laughed at that one.

 

[LunarMist]

Or maybe I'll take a punt on Hitachi. I'd feel pretty comfortable with a Hitachi notebook drive.

I'm not quite sure what you mean. You like Hitachi drives but would not buy them? I would certainly buy a 120GB Hitachi notebook drive if one were available.

"i"

I am not familiar with Hibachi drives. Were they a manufacturer from the 80s-early 90s that has since gone out of business?

 

[Tannin]

Well, the only two sorts of drive I really trust are high-end Seagate SCSI units (like my X15s and etc.) and anything made by Samsung in the last 5 years or so.

I have good evidence to show that Seagate, Maxtor, and Western Digital have put out some pretty cruddy 3.5 inch products during that time, and Hitachi have never really recovered their reputation after the almighty 75GXP disaster. Prior to that though, Hitachi notebook drives were quite good, and IBM notebook drives were (mostly) excellent. (IBM had a couple of pretty ordinary models though: we had to RMA a few.) My guess is that Hitachi drives are good across the board now — but it's just a guess without any evidence.

So, looked at rationally, there is no real reason not to buy a Hitachi notebook drive. I'm sure they are very good. But in the end, it's making a leap of faith. I know Samsungs are good. Why mess with the unknown? I don't need the space that badly yet.

PS: I don't get the joke either. Maybe somebody will explain.

 

[Tea]

People shouldn't make fun of other people'z habitz and miztakes.

 

[blakerwry]

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=hibachi

 

[LunarMist]

Hmm. I thought it was a brand name, not a common noun. I must be too American/Western.

 

[Stereodude]

I wouldn't order drives from Newegg. Mine came wrapped in some bubble wrap, free-floating in a sea of packing peanuts. None of this extra packing material was antistatic.

Did it work?

If I recall the OEM drives I've ordered have come in sealed antistatic bags. I ordered a Toshiba notebook drive for my HTPC a while back from Newegg, ands I can't recall if it had an antistatic bag or not.

All in all, I've ordered a lot of stuff from Newegg and they seem to be the best online retailer I've dealt with.

 

[Mercutio]

Newegg's drive packaging tends to be lousy. I've gotten four or five DOAs from them. Samsung drives at least come in their plastic shells, but I won't buy a 3.5" Hitachi drive from them, 'cause they just bubble wrap the static bag. I can break Hitachi drives on my own, thank you.

Anyway, IBM/Hitachi notebook drives have been seen as low-quality for as long as I can remember caring about notebook drives. At least, that's the conventional wisdom I've always heard.

 

[sechs]

Zipzoomfly: I recently ordered a 7k250 from them. Came in the antistatic bag in a little foam box. Foam box was wrapped in bubble wrap. Everything in to the order was in a box with packing peanuts; but it was packed tight -- nothing in the box moved. Keep in mind, however, that Zipzoomfly isn't far from me, and, if FedEx would have forwarded it to the regional hub near me, rather than the main hub thirty miles furthur away, it would have only traveled about twenty miles.

NewEgg: These were Samsung drives in shells, not antistatic bags. Given that NewEgg is just on the other side of California, the drives had already settled to the bottom of the box. There wasn't nearly enough packing peanuts to even fill the box.

Momentus drives: I recently used the laptop of an aquaintance who upgraded to a 100GB Seagate Momentus drive. Slower than crap. It felt slower than the 4200RPM Fujitsu in my Thinkpad. Definitely quiet -- but lacking in performance.

 

[LunarMist]

I am still using the same little notebook from two years ago last week. The drive history has been:

60GB Hitachi DK23EA - Noisy, hot and slow - replaced on the first day with
80GB IBM 80GN - Quiet, but 4200 RPM slow (faster than Hitachi)
80GB 5K80 - Significantly faster, but noisero (acceptable) than 80GN
100GB 5400.2 - Very quiet, performance no better than 5K80, perhaps a little slower

Looking at the HGST site, it appears that Hitachi makes a 120Gb 4200 RPM drive, yet also makes a 100GB 7200 RPM drive. It seems like they should be able to achive 5400 RPM with a 120GB drive, but no dice.

 

[Pradeep]

Got an OEM Hitachi 400GB yesterday from Newegg, for use with the HD-DVR. Is it normal for them to get so hot that they can't be held for more than a sec or two? (It was sitting in an open 5 1/4" external enclosure, no active ventilation).

 

[Mercutio]

That's normal for Hitachis, yes, even with some amount of active cooling.

 

[sechs]

I disagree. While it may be normal for the five-platter drives, I've never had a hot Hitachi Deskstar drive. I've had 7k250s and 180GXPs -- all very cool

 

[Mercutio]

7k250s are certainly much warmer than other drives I've used in the 200 to 300GB range.

 

[Santilli]

I've had no problems with Hypermicro, other then a DOA drive they replaced, ASAP.

Also, Seagate has been wonderful to me, and I still have about 98% of their drives, and, they are still working, but, they are all scsi.

s

 

[LunarMist]

Will I live to see a 400GB drive in a notebook? Who knows.

 

[sechs]

7k250s are certainly much warmer than other drives I've used in the 200 to 300GB range.

Mine runs about four degrees cooler than a 7200.7 with one less platter.

 

[Mercutio]

I'm comparing mine to WD2500JBs, Maxline 300s and Samsung 200GB units. I don't see Seagate drives very often.