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Mac Hammer Fan · Jun 13, 2009, 10:06 AM

I am considering to replace the original 5400 RPM 120 GB drive by a faster 7200 rpm drive.
Can anyone tell me if the 500 GB version of Seagate Momentus 7200.4 is faster than the 320 GB version?

TIA

Simon · Jun 13, 2009, 10:16 AM

Sure it is. Just like the 320GB vesion it's got two platters but they have a higher density so that alone makes for a faster disk.

There's a $55 difference between the two disks. But keep in mind that having 200GB on the 320GB disk will slow it down considerably, while the 500 GB will still be close to its maximum performance. I went for the 500GB 7200.4 (twice actually) and I love the disk. It's the best notebook HDD I have ever used. Fast, quiet, cool.

Mac Hammer Fan · Jun 13, 2009, 10:38 AM

No complaints about vibration?

Simon · Jun 13, 2009, 12:55 PM

Nope. In fact I remember having a 7200 rpm Momentus with only 160 GB and that one definitely had more vibration.

SSharon · Jun 21, 2009, 10:58 AM

Any advice on whether this drive Newegg.com - Western Digital Scorpio Blue WD5000BEVT 500GB 5400 RPM 8MB Cache 2.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Internal Notebook Hard Drive - Laptop Hard Drives would make a nice substitute for the stock drive in a new 13" MBP.
I saw the seagate when I was looking around at newegg, but didn't like some of the reviews I read and the prices are about the same.

Simon · Jun 21, 2009, 11:11 AM

It will not perform as well as the 7200.4, that's for sure.

If you prefer WD over Seagate you should look at the Black line for performance. And IMHO Newegg reviews should be taken with a grain of salt.

SSharon · Jun 21, 2009, 11:23 AM

Originally Posted by Simon

It will not perform as well as the 7200.4, that's for sure.

If you prefer WD over Seagate you should look at the Black line for performance. And IMHO Newegg reviews should be taken with a grain of salt.

I took another look at it and for my needs it isn't worth the extra $45. I'm upgrading from a 4200rpm drive in an ibook G4. Thanks for the quick response though and yes I do take newegg reviews with a grain of salt, I've purchased enough things from them to know that.

amazing · Jun 21, 2009, 03:14 PM

Originally Posted by SSharon

Any advice on whether this drive Newegg.com - Western Digital Scorpio Blue WD5000BEVT 500GB 5400 RPM 8MB Cache 2.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Internal Notebook Hard Drive - Laptop Hard Drives would make a nice substitute for the stock drive in a new 13" MBP.
I saw the seagate when I was looking around at newegg, but didn't like some of the reviews I read and the prices are about the same.

That's the WD HD that I have in my MBP, and it's gotten cheaper since when I bought it. No complaints about vibration or heat. It's lovely to have all that space...the original Apple HD didn't stay in the MBP long enough for me to even form an opinion on noise or vibration.

I've never had a Seagate to compare it to, so no opinion on that front.

SSharon · Jun 21, 2009, 05:14 PM

Originally Posted by amazing

That's the WD HD that I have in my MBP, and it's gotten cheaper since when I bought it. No complaints about vibration or heat. It's lovely to have all that space...the original Apple HD didn't stay in the MBP long enough for me to even form an opinion on noise or vibration.

I've never had a Seagate to compare it to, so no opinion on that front.

Thanks for the info. I just paid $81 for it from newegg and I can't wait for it to arrive. I also bought a cheap USB enclosure to put the stock drive in once I actually buy the MPB.

Bearsfan34 · Jun 25, 2009, 02:01 PM

I asked for/received a Seagate 320GB 7200rpm drive for this past XMas (was $69.99 on sale at the time), and it ROCKS. Lightning fast, not a lot of search slowness, and for the audio recording/editing I do on my white MacBoook, it makes a good deal of difference.

Also have a 320GB 7200rpm HDD in my older MacBook Pro at work, it's a Western Digital, and it's also rock-solid. It seems a little (surprisingly) slower than the Seagate in my MacBook, but still an improvement over the 160GB 5400rpm stock drive the MBP had originally.

Big ups to the Seagate 320GB. If I had the $$ for the 500GB 7200rpm Seagate drive, I'd get it in a heartbeat.

SSharon · Jun 25, 2009, 03:22 PM

I got my Western Digital 500gb 5400rpm drive and installed it in my new MBP and love it. I also put the original 160gb drive in an enclosure and when I plug it in I can't even feel that it is spinning.

Maybe next time I'll go for the Seagate, but my needs don't really warrant one right now. In general I like their drives and have a couple of them in my MDD G4.

Mac Hammer Fan · 05:07 AM

Thanks everyone for all the advice.
I bought a 320 GB Momentus 7200.4 because I had to wait too long for the 500 GB version, which was not in stock. It's a big improvement over the original slow 5400 rpm drive and I am happy with it. The system boots in 45 seconds instead of 70 seconds, Quark opens in 33 seconds instead of 50 and Garageband in 14 seconds instead of 28. My Macbook feels definitely faster.
No complaints about vibration or heat.

Simon · Jun 26, 2009, 05:03 AM

Congratulations!

It doesn't cease to surprise how much faster a computer feels once you install a decent disk.

Guy Kuo · Jun 26, 2009, 11:59 AM

It looks like Apple has pulled the update offline, but if you see it show up, do NOT install the EFI update 1.7. It was intended to enable SATA 2 speed on the interface, but 3rd party drives seem to have problems after the update. Users report lockups and are forced to switch back to their Apple drive. I have not problems on my MBP13 after the update, but I'm on a Apple supplied drive. Again, I'd avoid the EFI 1.7 update until this issue gets sorted.

The direct link to the EFI 1.7 update appears to have been removed from the Apple website. So, I suspect it won't appear in Software Update, but for a time it was showing up in Software Update and people went ahead and applied it to their chagrine.

SSharon · Jun 26, 2009, 12:11 PM

Originally Posted by Guy Kuo

It looks like Apple has pulled the update offline, but if you see it show up, do NOT install the EFI update 1.7. It was intended to enable SATA 2 speed on the interface, but 3rd party drives seem to have problems after the update. Users report lockups and are forced to switch back to their Apple drive. I have not problems on my MBP13 after the update, but I'm on a Apple supplied drive. Again, I'd avoid the EFI 1.7 update until this issue gets sorted.

The direct link to the EFI 1.7 update appears to have been removed from the Apple website. So, I suspect it won't appear in Software Update, but for a time it was showing up in Software Update and people went ahead and applied it to their chagrine.

Thanks for the heads up. I updated the firmware while I had the stock drive in and now I use a third party drive, but I haven't encountered any problems at all. I'm glad I kept the stock drive though.