Advantages: Huge capacity, reasonably fast, 5 year warranty Disadvantages: Not the fastest
My laptop, a Dell 5150 is a fine machine (see review elsewhere on Ciao) but the 80Gb hard drive whilst big for a laptop is starting to get a bit cramped now I have both Windows XP and Vista on it so I've started looking around for a second hard drive so I can put Vista on one and leave XP on the other and then swap drives as needed. Luckily, following a previous hard drive failure, I have a spare caddy that the laptop needs so swapping drives would be a quick task, assuming I keep the tiny screwdriver needed handy in my rucksack!
Laptop hard drives are smaller than normal - 2.5inch as opposed to 3.5 inch and tend to be at a price premium compared to the 'normal' sized drives, especially the bigger ones. They also tend to be much slower as they run at 4200RPM instead of 5600 or even 7200RPM that desktop ones run at. The reason being ...
Advantages: Great invention, reasonable price, large capacity Disadvantages: Bulky, noisy
approx. 3.5 inches in height, 10 inches across and 3.5 inches deep. When it is running it is also has quite a loud buzzing noise, which can be quite tedious.
The hard drive has 120GB and can store approx. 2,000 hours of digital music, 38,400 digital photos, 120 hours of digital video or 60 PC games. You are able to store digtal photos, videos, music, DVD's, Business Documents and Emails on the hard drive.
The hard drive has a 7200-RPM spin speed and a 2-MB cache buffer, BounceBack Express software for fast and easy back up, built-in self-monitoring technology and is also compatible with Windows and Macintosh platforms.
I have found this hard drive really useful, no longer does my laptop get filled up, it also runs faster. I am able to store all large documents/music/games on the external hard drive which prevents the slow ...
Advantages: Small, fast, large cache Disadvantages: Expensive
times. So overall it performs well. Seagate are a trusted manufacturer and have been around for a while. As far as I'm aware they have never made a bad device line, but then my HDD's of preference are normally Western digital.
The device uses an 8mb cache, this isn't a special as it used to be since many other 2.5"HDDs now use this amount but its still a plus point for the device. It runs a 7200RPM, this is about the same as many normal 3.5" HDDs but is quite fast for a laptop variant.
As I said before it is important to look at your need for this type of device, there are many other devices available that do the same job but for a far lower price. You should only buy 2.5" HDD's if you really need one and if you can't use anything else.
I bought this one new from Ebuyer for just over £100 inc VAT and delivery. Its now happily ...
Product Information for "Seagate Momentus 5400.3 ST9120822A 120 GB" »
Performance
Drive Transfer Rate
100 MBps (external)
Internal Data Rate
44 MBps
Seek Time
12.5 ms (average)
Average Latency
5.6 ms
Spindle Speed
5400 rpm
Reliability
Non-Recoverable Errors
1 per 10^14
Start / Stop Cycles
600,000
Manufacturer's product description
Momentus 5400.3 Series is the first Seagate product to utilize perpendicular recording technology. This innovative technology enables Seagate to deliver the industry's highest capacity in a single, 2.5-inch disc drive without sacrificing best-in-class features. PRODUCT FEATURES: Nearly 50 percent more performance than systems with 4200-RPM drives; 4200-like battery consumption lets users work longer; Robust design and high shock tolerance enable mobility in rugged notebook operating environments; 350 Gs of operating shock and 900 Gs of nonoperating shock make the drive ideal for notebook PCs and industrial applications.
Related tags for Seagate Momentus 5400.3 ST9120822A 120 GB »
