Momentus XT Install tips?

[BAC5.2]

To those that have done Momentus XT installs, did you follow any special procedure?

My plan was to just install from a recent Time Machine backup. I figured that would be easier and more efficient than doing a clean install and then trying to reload all of my apps and transfer all data.

What do you guys think?

This is in my late '10 15" 2.8GHz i7 with 8GB of RAM, and will be replacing the 500Gb 5400RPM drive it came with. It's currently running Lion.

The computer isn't that old, but the Hybrid seemed like a good way to increase performance substantially (both from the SSD part and the 7200RPM part) without dropping huge money on a large capacity SSD.

 

[RJCP]

To those that have done Momentus XT installs, did you follow any special procedure?

My plan was to just install from a recent Time Machine backup. I figured that would be easier and more efficient than doing a clean install and then trying to reload all of my apps and transfer all data.

What do you guys think?

This is in my late '10 15" 2.8GHz i7 with 8GB of RAM, and will be replacing the 500Gb 5400RPM drive it came with. It's currently running Lion.

The computer isn't that old, but the Hybrid seemed like a good way to increase performance substantially (both from the SSD part and the 7200RPM part) without dropping huge money on a large capacity SSD.

Hi, just did that yesterday. I did a clean install of Lion on the new Momentus XT, downloaded the firmware update and installed it (check which one comes with your HDD if it is SD25, then you're up to date), then restored "myself" through a Time Machine backup with Migration Assistant.

Result? My system boots in approximately half the time it was booting from my original 5200rpm 160Gb and apps load much much faster. This hard drive is a great option if you can't afford SSD.

 

[Uplift]

I added one of these a couple of days a go and i'm really impressed... moving around Lion becomes almost instant and other apps are significantly faster.

I'd recommend doing a clean install. I didn't follow any procedure, just swapped hard disk and then clean installed Lion, everything works fine.

 

[BAC5.2]

SD25 or SD26? I've heard both revisions tossed around.

I don't really feel like doing a clean install, then copying things off the old drive. I have settings how I want them, applications how I want them, programs how I want them, etc.

RJCP - What made you decide to follow that path, instead of doing a recovery from Time Machine?

If I get the drive, I was going to burn the .iso for SD25/26/whatever ahead of time and then boot from that to update, and then do a TM clone.

It's good to hear that there are no special procedures to go through.

 

[Ronnoco]

SD25 or SD26? I've heard both revisions tossed around.

I don't really feel like doing a clean install, then copying things off the old drive. I have settings how I want them, applications how I want them, programs how I want them, etc.

RJCP - What made you decide to follow that path, instead of doing a recovery from Time Machine?

If I get the drive, I was going to burn the .iso for SD25/26/whatever ahead of time and then boot from that to update, and then do a TM clone.

It's good to hear that there are no special procedures to go through.

I spoke with Seagate support before flashing my firmware from SD23 to a newer firmware and they recommended going to SD25 for my mid 2010 15" MacBook Pro (Lion). The Tech said from his experience that SD25 was more stable for OSX. I've read some posts from members that have had success with SD26, but I decided to go with the Seagate Tech's advice...so far, no problems and some very nice improvements (mostly power management sleep/wake and it appears to me that my programs open/close significantly faster with SD25 as opposed to SD23).

 

[BAC5.2]

Thanks!

So you just plugged it in, booted in Recovery from a Time Machine save, and that was it?

I think I'll pick one up this week!

 

[BAC5.2]

I'm going to pick one of these up today, in a few minutes actually.

I think I'll install it, update the firmware, then do recovery install from a Time Machine backup (done right before shutting down to swap the drive).

How does that sound?

 

[BAC5.2]

I got my Momentus XT today. $99.99!

Did the install, did the firmware update (which wasn't necessary), formatted the drive, and did a Time Machine restore. Took about 2 hours, and everything was good.

On the initial restart, time was cut by 50%.

The drive seems to be running a little hotter than the 5400RPM drive it's replacing, and it is definitely not as smooth (slight vibration).

Overall it seems to be pretty nice. I'm going to do a handful of restarts to try and cement boot time speed and app launching. Things are definitely loading much more quickly, which is a really welcome feature.

 

[BAC5.2]

After 3 cold-boot cycles, boot times are MUCH faster. That alone was worth $99.99!

Battery after just unplugging settled to the mid 7-hour range. Really wild.

So far so good!

 

[Eradik]

The drive seems to be running a little hotter than the 5400RPM drive it's replacing, and it is definitely not as smooth (slight vibration).

Unfortunately this is the downside of a 7200 rpm drive. But the performance to me makes it worth it. Glad you're enjoying your XT! I've had mine a few days now and I LOVE IT!

 

[BAC5.2]

I don't feel too bad about the vibration and other "downsides". It would have been possible to buy an MBP with a 7200RPM drive, and it wouldn't have been any louder/rougher/whatever as it is now.

Again, for $99 it's hard to go wrong.

Staples had it listed for $149, but another store had it listed for $109. The closest Staples was out of stock, but the next closest one had it in stock. I drove over, and went to check out. I double checked the price on my phone, and the other store had dropped it to $99. Price match and I was out the door!