Charles P. Jefferies

I'm going to take a look at your software. I have done numerous storage-related software reviews in the past, so I have somewhat of a frame of reference.

This announcement comes as a surprise to me, I did not see that coming. I hope to see them continue as two separate brands.

This device actually has a power adapter so it has no problem with two 2.5" or 3.5" drives. I did not try powering off of just USB, I'm not sure it's designed to do that. USB 3.0 is tricky at the moment. My laptop has two USB 3.0 ports however they both share the same controller, so you can't get full USB 3.0 performance at the same time out of both ports. So, if I hook up two storage devices, running together they might not get as good performance as running just one at a time (not entirely related to what you were asking, I know, just thought I'd throw it out there).

dabl - numerous SandForce SSD branders like A-Data and OCZ have released firmware updates for their SandForce SSDs to fix sleep issues. I have not heard of sleep issues with other SSD brands like Intel. Here's an example of sleep issues (this is for Mac OSX, but there have been issues with PCs too): http://www.hardmac.com/news/2010/03/18/a-problem-with-deep-sleep-mode-for-sandforce-controllers Check the manufacturer's website for firmware update. Read the change log to make sure it is fixing the issues you have . . . otherwise don't take the risk applying the firmware update.

Brian is right, an SSD makes sense given your rough treatment of the notebook. No moving parts. The Corsair Force series are my current favorite drives though they are a tad expensive. Although your notebook only has a SATA I connection, it's not going to be a limiting factor in daily use (nor will you likely care, given how much faster it will be regardless than your HDD).

Yeah that's pretty slow, my mechanical Western Digital Scorpio hard drive is close to that in transfer speed. Unfortunately that drive was not worth the money. It's still faster than a hard drive for overall use but compared to just about every other modern SSD, it's dog slow. Regarding the 4K vs 512b drive -- a lot of newer hard drives are coming with the new 4k advanced format, which for your uses, won't matter. It really only comes into play with very high capacity drives.

Brian is correct that iTunes doesn't care much about the performance of the drive. That won't even be a factor for playing back movies. Any modern hard drive is more than capable of keeping up with the seeking requirements for playing back music files. The WD6400BEVT is especially quiet and has low power consumption so it is an excellent option. Also consider the WD5000BEVT (512b sector, I don't recall the model # of the 4k sector version; both should be the same otherwise); I have seen it priced proportionally less per GB than the WD6400BEVT. Sometimes the higher capacity 2.5" drives carry a small premium for being so large. And no, there should not be any conflict running a 512b format drive alongside a 4k sector drive; I have done so in the past with my Windows 7 64-bit desktop. --- As far as the Samsung drive goes, run a CrystalDiskMark benchmark and post a screenshot for us: http://crystalmark.info/download/index-e.html If it's the Samsung drive I am thinking of, then yes you got shafted. HP was sending a Samsung drive in their business notebooks a while back, didn't even have TRIM.

1. The front-end data on the hard drive is merely mirrored on the SSD so yes, you should be able to recover data located on that part of the hard drive from it. Not something I would recommend depending on, though. The other questions are probably something you will have to email Silverstone about; I don't have the answer.

Functionally it's no different; this just makes it a bit more "seamless". Also note that HDDBoost can be added to your system without having to reformat; just plug the hard drive into it and it will start caching data to the SSD automatically.

I have a motion sensor in my both my HP notebooks (ProBook 5310m and EliteBook 8740w) and the 7K500 and WD5000BEKT function fine with them; the hard drive light glows orange when I move the notebooks around, indicating it has shut off the hard drive. You will have to double-check to see if they will still work with the MacBook, I unfortunately don't know. At the very least I can tell you it won't cause any compatibility problems (whether or not the motion sensor works, that is). Samsung does make 7200RPM drives; their best drive at the moment is the HM640JJ, which is 640GB 7200RPM and not all that expensive. I have no experience with it. Reviews state it has good performance (not quite as fast as the 7K500/WD5000BEKT but you wouldn't notice the difference between them). I am on the NotebookReview.com forums a lot and we have lots of people with the HM640JJ, no complaints yet. That said, based on my own experience I would still recommend the 7K500. Great drive. I have been using it since it first came out. I have yet to read a comment from someone that's used a 7K500 and hasn't liked it. It will be a big upgrade from your current drive. P.S. about the Seagate XT -- haven't heard of that spin-off problem but then again I don't surf Mac forums. I'd create a thread about it here and ask.

Welcome to the forums. Upgrading the hard drive to a significantly faster model will perceptibly increase your performance. Your 250GB 5400RPM drive will be quite slow next to more modern 7200RPM drives. I highly recommend going with a 7200RPM spindle speed. Because the platters are spinning faster, the drive has a lower access time, and a "snappy" system is all about access time. A lower access time will make a difference every time you do something that requires hard disk access such as opening a program or file and booting up. In the past, 7200RPM drives used to run a lot hotter/noisier and consume more power than comparable 5400RPM drives. However today that is no longer the case. You won't be able to tell the difference in any of those areas with the right 7200RPM drive today. I suggest a Hitachi 7K500; it is in my opinion the "best of breed" of modern 7200RPM mechanical hard drives. I also own the WD Scorpio Black 500GB (WD5000BEKT) and while benchmarks say it's faster, I don't notice a difference and it is noticeably noisier. The 7K500 on the other hand is quiet and just as fast. There is essentially no vibration from either drive. Here's a relevant review: http://www.storagereview.com/western_digital_scorpio_black_500gb_review_wd5000bekt I also own a WD Scorpio Blue 500GB 5400RPM, and it is noticeably slower compared to both my 7K500 and the WD5000BEKT, and the Scorpio Blue 500GB is one of the faster 5400RPM drives available. Avoid the Seagate 7200.4 at all costs; compared to the WD/Hitachi 7200RPM drives, it has poor quality and subpar performance. It has a lot of vibration and noise by comparison as well. So in conclusion, the Hitachi 7K500 is your best bet. Samsung makes a 640GB 7200RPM drive (HM640JJ) that is supposed to be good but I have no experience with it.

It's not uncommon for a memory slot to go bad. However, as TSullivan noted, run memtest86+ for at least eight passes per stick and then eight passes with both of them in. To rule out the video card being the problem, uninstall its drivers and just use the generic Windows XP driver.

Icy Dock says it is hot swappable however it really isn't . . . your hard drive controller needs to support that functionality and mine doesn't.

Hi marciamac -- the review was a while ago, but I think there is a digital version of the user's guide on the hard drive; did you check that? The user manual for your hard drive can be found here: http://www.simpletech.com/support/guides.php Let me know if you can't find it.

Great review. I can't believe it took WD this long to come out with a 500GB Black drive; Seagate's drive has been out for well over a year and Hitachi had their 7K500 out months ago. Some things missing from the review are heat, noise, and vibration. David, any comparisons to the 7K500/7200.4? I have been using a 7K500 in my notebook for several months now and have been very satisfied. It hardly makes any noise and produces minimal vibration. And on top of that, it has been reliable. I don't think the WD 500GB Black drive is worth upgrading to given I already have the 7K500.