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Momentus XT 750GB for 2011 MBP
- Thread starter Higney85
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precisely, and it sucks I want to buy 4 500g HDD to run in raid 0 for file storage but they're too effing expensive
Well tech report did a pretty good review, so its not completely guinea pig...
Are you really going for it at this price point? I would volunteer to be guinea pig and post benches and stuff.. but its too expensive right now
I haven't decided. $250 is the plan for xmas (which this fits) but I can't decide if it's worth it. Even if price weren't an option there isn't a (non military) 750GB or greater SSD. 500GB won't cut it, especially if I'm going to spend some serious money. My 5400rpm is the bottleneck at this point, so I am torn between a high performance 7200rpm regular drive (WD black at this point) and the momentus XT 750GB.
Looking at the review, it's the same drive in discussion within this thread.
Yes, it is not a direct alternative to what the momentus is offering but it is an alternative nonetheless. No need for caching, most people have the Users directory on the HDD and apps + system files on the SSD. You get the full speed where it is needed most but stuff like music and documents get the slower speed. Personally, this is all I need but yea, there is a tradeoff.
Time Machine backs up any drive connected to the computer so no, no issues. In fact, a system restore is now easier because critical files are kept separate.
But... yes, I agree, to each his own. This may not be for everyone.
Hey, and how does TM work? does it make 2 sparse bundles? or does i make one that comprises both drives? Have been reading on apple forums, but can't find a straight answer.
The benchmarks on this drive are super impressive. If it came down to around $150, I'd buy it in a heartbeat.
CharlieRoberts,
I'm not exactly sure how it works, but TM seems to be capable of making backups of all drives connected to the computer and if you were to peruse your backups within TM, you would see the same folder structure as if you were looking at them through Finder.
Imagine two 500gb drives vs a single 1tb drive. Time Machine does not seem to discriminate between backing the two when backing up, it just backs up whatever data there is. I can only explain how it works in practice because I don't fully understand what is going on the background, sorry. Maybe somebody else can step in.
I've been including external drives in my backups right from the beginning with no issues resulting from the additional drives so far. I've had plenty of other issues though...
I'm not exactly sure how it works, but TM seems to be capable of making backups of all drives connected to the computer and if you were to peruse your backups within TM, you would see the same folder structure as if you were looking at them through Finder.
Imagine two 500gb drives vs a single 1tb drive. Time Machine does not seem to discriminate between backing the two when backing up, it just backs up whatever data there is. I can only explain how it works in practice because I don't fully understand what is going on the background, sorry. Maybe somebody else can step in.
I've been including external drives in my backups right from the beginning with no issues resulting from the additional drives so far. I've had plenty of other issues though...
Im with you on that one
Thanks a lot for taking the time though, I think I understood! This might be the reason I NEED to get optibay and try it out for myself hahaha.
It's only fast at tasks when you perform them over and over again. The first reboot/application load is slow.
http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/foru...ntus-xt-750gb-hybrid-hard-drive-review-9.html
If you read the review, it says that this drive has a specific part of its hand reserved for system startup files. So that even if the first is slow, consequent reboots will be speedy no matter how often you reboot.
And as for the apps, I think 8 GB is plenty of space for most used apps. After all, for those 3 times a month I use Handbrake, I don´t mind if it takes 2 secs or 8 seconds to open
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but I'd strongly advice against this drive at this point for a Macbook Pro
I run an online retailer, and we've sold a lot of 500gb Momentus XT drives. They are great when you first install them, and give a nice balance between SSD performance and HDD pricing and size.
However, they have a bad track record reliability wise. They are less reliable than most SSDs, and much worse than regular HDDs. Furthermore, we've found they have a lot of strange compatibility issues with these drives and laptops in general, and Macbook pros in particular. The newer firmware has improved this, and hopefully the newer drive is better. But that's obviously still a risk.
Combine the above with the current pricing of the HDD, I personally wouldn't pull the trigger. I'd either get a 750gb WD Black, or seriously consider the SSD + HDD option (more on this below).
In terms of the performance - I've got hands on experience of MBPs with 5400rpm drives, Seagate Momentus XTs, 7200rpm drives, SSD only setups, and SSD + HDD options. My thoughts are as follows:
- The Momentus XT is an amazing piece of hardware and technology. It works beautifully, especially if you use relatively few applications. However, the caching (obviously) performs worse the more different applications you run. Consider the fact that you are running VMs, you probably fall into this category. A lot of benchmarks and reviews don't cover this, I'd suggest reading the Anandtech review. If you are using a few applications, you see SSD-like speeds. If you use more apps, you see more HDD like speeds. Having said that, it's still a better performer than regular HDDs - for me, the deal breaker are the reliability issues. It sucks, cause it's an awesome drive. At one point we where even putting them into desktops for customers, prior to realising the issues!
- Pure SSD setup - pure bliss, very quick - but prohibitively expensive. Fortunately, I have low storage needs, so I'm running this setup now.
- SSD & HDD setup - 90% of the experience of an SSD. Yes, you need to manage it better - move a project from the HDD to SSD before working on it, moving your iTunes folder, etc. I've ran this setup for the last 3 years, and if you are willing to manage it, it works beautifully. Obviously, if you have the type of workflow where you are working on huge projects (say 50gb plus) this methodology falls down. But for most people, that's not the case. When I had the SSD / HDD setup, I had my OS, all applications, Windows VM, Documents folder, all on my 160gb SSD. On my 500gb HDD I had music, photos, archived applications, additional VMs, etc. Obviously, you sacrifice the Optical drive - for most, this is not an issue, but for some it is.
Hope that helps!
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but I'd strongly advice against this drive at this point for a Macbook Pro
I run an online retailer, and we've sold a lot of 500gb Momentus XT drives. They are great when you first install them, and give a nice balance between SSD performance and HDD pricing and size.
However, they have a bad track record reliability wise. They are less reliable than most SSDs, and much worse than regular HDDs. Furthermore, we've found they have a lot of strange compatibility issues with these drives and laptops in general, and Macbook pros in particular. The newer firmware has improved this, and hopefully the newer drive is better. But that's obviously still a risk.
Combine the above with the current pricing of the HDD, I personally wouldn't pull the trigger. I'd either get a 750gb WD Black, or seriously consider the SSD + HDD option (more on this below).
In terms of the performance - I've got hands on experience of MBPs with 5400rpm drives, Seagate Momentus XTs, 7200rpm drives, SSD only setups, and SSD + HDD options. My thoughts are as follows:
- The Momentus XT is an amazing piece of hardware and technology. It works beautifully, especially if you use relatively few applications. However, the caching (obviously) performs worse the more different applications you run. Consider the fact that you are running VMs, you probably fall into this category. A lot of benchmarks and reviews don't cover this, I'd suggest reading the Anandtech review. If you are using a few applications, you see SSD-like speeds. If you use more apps, you see more HDD like speeds. Having said that, it's still a better performer than regular HDDs - for me, the deal breaker are the reliability issues. It sucks, cause it's an awesome drive. At one point we where even putting them into desktops for customers, prior to realising the issues!
- Pure SSD setup - pure bliss, very quick - but prohibitively expensive. Fortunately, I have low storage needs, so I'm running this setup now.
- SSD & HDD setup - 90% of the experience of an SSD. Yes, you need to manage it better - move a project from the HDD to SSD before working on it, moving your iTunes folder, etc. I've ran this setup for the last 3 years, and if you are willing to manage it, it works beautifully. Obviously, if you have the type of workflow where you are working on huge projects (say 50gb plus) this methodology falls down. But for most people, that's not the case. When I had the SSD / HDD setup, I had my OS, all applications, Windows VM, Documents folder, all on my 160gb SSD. On my 500gb HDD I had music, photos, archived applications, additional VMs, etc. Obviously, you sacrifice the Optical drive - for most, this is not an issue, but for some it is.
Hope that helps!
Where I'm from, it's called party-pooper hahaha
No, seriously, thank you for your input. It sucks though.
Yeah that's me
I felt bad typing it, but rather find this out before than after! The current HDD situation really, really sucks. My business is suffering big time because HDD prices have tripled, and so people are holding back from buying My XT ran flawless in my MBP with SD28. Many people have reported the same thing on this forum.
Long term reliability might be lower than other hard drives but with a 4 star rating on newegg it doesn't seem like there is a big problem.
***** 60% (392)
**** 15% (101)
*** 8% (54)
** 6% (40)
* 10% (68)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148591
Long term reliability might be lower than other hard drives but with a 4 star rating on newegg it doesn't seem like there is a big problem.
***** 60% (392)
**** 15% (101)
*** 8% (54)
** 6% (40)
* 10% (68)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148591
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but I'd strongly advice against this drive at this point for a Macbook Pro
ADVISE. You give ADVICE, but you ADVISE.
If you indeed run this "online retailer", how about some stats. Return rates, DOA rates, etc?
If you can't, I call horse manure on everything you posted.
Judging by the reliability on Newegg I'd say it isn't horse manure. And it's known that previous firmware releases had a lot of issues with Macs.
But with firmware SD28 the problems seem to be gone for 99%. And the reliability while not the best is still good enough.
But with firmware SD28 the problems seem to be gone for 99%. And the reliability while not the best is still good enough.
ADVISE. You give ADVICE, but you ADVISE.
If you indeed run this "online retailer", how about some stats. Return rates, DOA rates, etc?
If you can't, I call horse manure on everything you posted.
Why would anyone come here to lie through their teeth about their occupation?
I think you are being paranoid
Well... I'm getting the momentus XP 750GB. I currently have a 750GB (the slow 5400rpm) and use TM to a RAID 1 NAS. I'll use carbon copy to install it and keep the other drive for a while. Someone has to try it. With the warranty, I'll take the risk. Everything is backed up and if the drive takes a turn for the worst I have my old one to keep me going.
I'll report back after Xmas. I'll install sd28 (or the latest) and see what happens. If it lasts a couple years in time for SSD's with high capacity to become commonplace and economically feasible it may just work out. I'm not willing to give up the optical drive since I watch DVD's.
Thanks for all the replies and even the negative viewpoint firsthand. It made me rethink things, but I think it's worth a shot. Someone has to put forth the risk and become a guinea pig for tech support.
I'll report back after Xmas. I'll install sd28 (or the latest) and see what happens. If it lasts a couple years in time for SSD's with high capacity to become commonplace and economically feasible it may just work out. I'm not willing to give up the optical drive since I watch DVD's.
Thanks for all the replies and even the negative viewpoint firsthand. It made me rethink things, but I think it's worth a shot. Someone has to put forth the risk and become a guinea pig for tech support.