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Need advise about a HDD

S

Skyholder01

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 23, 2011
52
0
Hello,
Looking to upgrade to a 500g hard drive.
After reading a number of reviews, Western Digital seem to be taking a beating.

Any suggestions on a brand, and what's a fair price to expect?
Thanks.
 
I went for the 750Gb Scorpio Black.

It arrived yesterday, and I cloned the original hard drive to it over night.

I have not installed it yet, but it does not seem noisy or run that hot.
 
I have an iOmega HDD. I may have purchased it at an apple store, but I'm not sure.

Works well for me. I keep all of my Time Machine backups on it, and its never failed for any reason.
 
i bought a WD Scorpio Black 750GB. i installed it in my optical bay (i have a silent SSD in my main bay) and immediately noticed how loud the drive was. i exchanged it for another one thinking that the drive was somehow bad, and the replacement is just as loud, and i mean annoying loud. i also noticed my battery drains very fast now.

in my previous macbook pro, i had a 750GB Seagate 7200 RPM in the optical bay, and i couldn't hear that drive at all, it was dead silent. the Scorpio Black sounds like the macbook pro fans, but its not the fans, its the hard drive. i love the speed of the drive, and i really like the 5 year warranty, but the noise is just too much. i'm just not sure i want to keep the drive.

i've read of other people claiming that their WD Scorpio Black 750GB drives are very quiet. they must be in a somewhat noisy environment cause, for me, two in a row have been very noisy. i can hear the drive as i write this post, and its annoying the heck out me :confused:
 
bluesteel said:
i bought a WD Scorpio Black 750GB. i installed it in my optical bay (i have a silent SSD in my main bay) and immediately noticed how loud the drive was. i exchanged it for another one thinking that the drive was somehow bad, and the replacement is just as loud, and i mean annoying loud. i also noticed my battery drains very fast now.

in my previous macbook pro, i had a 750GB Seagate 7200 RPM in the optical bay, and i couldn't hear that drive at all, it was dead silent. the Scorpio Black sounds like the macbook pro fans, but its not the fans, its the hard drive. i love the speed of the drive, and i really like the 5 year warranty, but the noise is just too much. i'm just not sure i want to keep the drive.

i've read of other people claiming that their WD Scorpio Black 750GB drives are very quiet. they must be in a somewhat noisy environment cause, for me, two in a row have been very noisy. i can hear the drive as i write this post, and its annoying the heck out me :confused:
Click to expand...

Could it be because you located it in the optical bay? There is only keyboard, which is not solid between the optical bay. More sound can come through there. Main bay has solid aluminum for sound to have to go through. Just a thought.
 
Maxpilot said:
Could it be because you located it in the optical bay? There is only keyboard, which is not solid between the optical bay. More sound can come through there. Main bay has solid aluminum for sound to have to go through. Just a thought.
Click to expand...

good thought, but i swapped the SSD and the Scorpio to see if the DataDoubler was making a vibration due to the Scorpio, and it was the exact same. the Scorpio is just loud.

i called Western Digital as well. they said that the drive should not be that loud, and i should not be hearing the intermittent clicking noise when there is no activity on the drive, or when its idle (no apps open, and not using the computer). i'm going to swap it out one more time. if its loud again, i'm gonna try something else. i might go back to a Seagate 7200RPM 750GB.
 
been using hitachi's for years now. i have dual 7200rpm 500gb drives striped in a raid 0 in my mbp. silent as can be, no heat issues, no noticeable difference in battery performance since installing them. been very very happy.
 
Hitachi 7K500 or 7K750.

Terrific drives--silent, well-made, and zero vibration.
 
azazel- said:
Get this;

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136692

WD Scorpio Black, 7200rpm. Its cool, quiet, slight vibration thats only really noticable if I had my MBP on my lap, then I can barely feel it spinning under my right palm. Would still be using it now, 'till I upgraded to an SSD.
Click to expand...

I have the same one, it's definitely quiet and doesn't vibrate a lot, would definitely recommend. I have noticed that now I can't even feel a vibration much at all anymore since I upgraded my RAM and no longer need to use swap space. WD has a 5 year warranty too, I buy most of my HDDs from WD.
 
touchdownjesus4 said:
I have the same one, it's definitely quiet and doesn't vibrate a lot, would definitely recommend. I have noticed that now I can't even feel a vibration much at all anymore since I upgraded my RAM and no longer need to use swap space. WD has a 5 year warranty too, I buy most of my HDDs from WD.
Click to expand...

i guess its entirely possible that i got two bad Scorpio Blacks in a row. i'll find out with the third one.
 
I'm in the same boat but with the Hitachi 7k750. It's LOUD! I just got a replacement from owc and it's the same, sounds lilke the fans are going but it's just the drives normal spun up noise. Maybe the 7k500 is quieter? I was going to try the WD Black but not sure now. I have my hitachi in the data doubler. I swapped it in the main bay and while it's a little less noticeable, it's still v noisy.

I'm tempted to get a 5400 rpm since i have an ssd for speed anyways. Or try that Seagate. What model?
 
cibby said:
I'm in the same boat but with the Hitachi 7k750. It's LOUD! I just got a replacement from owc and it's the same, sounds lilke the fans are going but it's just the drives normal spun up noise. Maybe the 7k500 is quieter? I was going to try the WD Black but not sure now. I have my hitachi in the data doubler. I swapped it in the main bay and while it's a little less noticeable, it's still v noisy.

I'm tempted to get a 5400 rpm since i have an ssd for speed anyways. Or try that Seagate. What model?
Click to expand...

Wow, this is interesting. I was talking to owc about replacing my WD Black yet again...the person I was speaking to had the 7K750 in his optical bay and said it was super quiet...lol. I had a Seagate 750GB 7200RPM in another MacBook pro optical bay and it was dead quiet, but the OWC rep said in his experience it was louder than them all.. Funny thing is that according to the specs, the SCorpio Black should be the most quiet of the bunch... I think.

I'm sick of exchanging... I might just stay with the Scorpio Black for the 5 year warranty and performance advantage.
 
i go with the scorpio blue 750GB and data doubler.
low temp. no vibration and noise
more importantly.. doesn't affect the battery much
 
i think with all drives, you get good ones and then you get bad ones.

I currently got the hitachi 750/7200. everyone talks about how quiet this drive is. well actually it's louder than my old seagate 500 7200.4. my hitachi is fast, doesn't drain the battery, no vibration, BUT i constantly hear intermittent clicking. it's not that annoying, but it is noticeable.

maybe it's because it's a larger capacity drive - I have no idea.
 
bluesteel said:
Wow, this is interesting. I was talking to owc about replacing my WD Black yet again...the person I was speaking to had the 7K750 in his optical bay and said it was super quiet...lol. I had a Seagate 750GB 7200RPM in another MacBook pro optical bay and it was dead quiet, but the OWC rep said in his experience it was louder than them all.. Funny thing is that according to the specs, the SCorpio Black should be the most quiet of the bunch... I think.

I'm sick of exchanging... I might just stay with the Scorpio Black for the 5 year warranty and performance advantage.
Click to expand...

I originally had a Seagate Momentus 500GB 7200rpm in my 2008 MB Pro. I just upgraded to the Hitachi 750GB 7200rmp. With general usage, it seems to be more response. Definitely quiet. Highly recommended for $90.
 
bielen said:
I originally had a Seagate Momentus 500GB 7200rpm in my 2008 MB Pro. I just upgraded to the Hitachi 750GB 7200rmp. With general usage, it seems to be more response. Definitely quiet. Highly recommended for $90.
Click to expand...

i've generally heard great things about the Hitachi 7K750....
 
bielen said:
I originally had a Seagate Momentus 500GB 7200rpm in my 2008 MB Pro. I just upgraded to the Hitachi 750GB 7200rmp. With general usage, it seems to be more response. Definitely quiet. Highly recommended for $90.
Click to expand...

do you hear intermittent clicking noises from this ^^^ drive, the Hitachi one? I have the same one and i hear those clicking noises all the time.

other than that, i love the drive - it's fast, no vibration and it's easy on the battery
 
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