Anyone with the Hitachi 5k500.B 500 GB 2.5" SATA/II HD?

[ronin510]

Most of the people buying third-party 500 GB SATA/II drives for MacBooks and MacBook Pros are going for the Seagate Momentus or Western Digital Scorpio Blues. I was wondering what people's experiences are with the Hitachi 500 GB (5k500.B 2 platter, not the 5K500 3 platter).

Newegg currently has a sale on the Hitachi drive for $79.99, cheaper than either the Momentus or Scorpio Blue.

1. How loud do they get in a normal room setting and a silent room setting?
2. Do they make constant clicking noises, parking their read/write heads?
3. How's the heat?

I have a 2 week old 13" MacBook Pro. My experience with the Scorpio Blue is a whirring/whooshing sound, sort of like a muffled crashing wave, in a silent room. I found the Momentus loud enough to hear in a regular office setting. I'm going more for silence than performance.

 

[omarjk]

If anyone has experience of this I'd be interested to know as well, as I am about to go for a 7200 rpm 500 GB 2.5" internal and a lot of fan noise is not welcome, (but, to an extent, a necessary evil of poverty --> lack of means for SSD).

 

[JRoDDz]

Apple uses the Hitachis. They have lower power requirements than the scorpio. Lower power = less heat and better battery life. Performance is about equal.

 

[Belm]

I'm interested in this too. I wanted to get a 250GB 5k500.b but if the 500GB is on sale why not? Anyone have any problems with Hitachi drives?

 

[davidlv]

The Sound of Silence

I have a new 15" Macbook Pro, bought in Japan that came with a Toshiba 250GB HD (model MK3255GSXF). This drive is virtually Silent, with no vibration I can detect (must be some as it is spinning!), and that is in a really quiet room at night.
Here in Japan, Apple uses mainly Fujitsu and Toshiba drives with some Hitachi drives showing up. They are generally not the fastest nor the slowest, reliable but run a little hot. I suggest you check out the Toshiba drives to see what's available in the States. YMMV, but I am one happy camper!

 

[jkozlow3]

My MBP came with a Hitachi 5K500.B 160GB drive and I have no complaints. Quiet & vibration free. If I ever need more space, I'll probably stick with the same line.

 

[Saturn1217]

I've got one

I upgraded to the hitachi instead of the WD because I heard it was pretty power efficient (which is important to me) and quiet. I wasn't really worried about the speed. (13" 2.26 MBP)

I can't compare to the other 500GB HDs because I've never used them but I've had no problems with this HD thus far. Fairly quiet although there is a bit of seeking noise (but definitely better than either of my previous laptops). It honestly feels about the same as using the stock hard drive that came with the computer. I would definitely recommend it.

hope that helps