Posted October 16, 2007 · Report post Hi guys, I am new to the forum, though I've been reading the articles for some time now. I want to upgrade my laptop hard drive (again). I went from the original fujitsu MHT2040AT to my current fujitsu MHV2060AT. I want to minimize noise and vibration - performance is secondary. I've gone through the following drives, and all have excess vibration and/or motor whine: Hitachi 40GB 5400rpm seagate momentus 40gb 5400rpm (original) (big whiner) fujitsu MHT2080AT (two platter version, vibration/motor noise) seagate momentus 5400.2 100GB (vibration/noise, however <fujitsu 80GB so still has it as external drive) My laptop is a Gateway M505X. It's really an awesome design, clone of a Gigabyte model, except the hard drive cage seems to lack vibration dampening. I reached this conclusion from installing the Fujitsu MHT2080AT drive (4200rpm, 40gbx 2 platters) first in the M505X and then in my sister's compaq X1000 laptop. With my gateway, the vibration even at idle was fairly noticeable. However, in my sister's X1000, where it currently lives, the vibration is VERY little even at full seek! My currently MHV2060AT is a single platter 60GB, and it's working great except I need more space. The Fujitsu 80GB MHW2080AT seems to be the best option for me, but I would love to go up to at least 100GB if possible. So requirements: PATA, 2.5", single platter for min noise/vibration, 5400rpm okay if noise/vibration level not too much from the 4200rpm drive. Suggestions? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted October 16, 2007 · Report post So requirements: PATA, 2.5", single platter for min noise/vibration, 5400rpm okay if noise/vibration level not too much from the 4200rpm drive. Samsung M5 series: HM160HC (PATA 5400rpm) = 1x160GB platter (2 heads) Must be a good, fast and very quiet one but it's also brand new one - so no user feedback about its real noise/vibration yet... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted October 16, 2007 · Report post So requirements: PATA, 2.5", single platter for min noise/vibration, 5400rpm okay if noise/vibration level not too much from the 4200rpm drive. Samsung M5 series: HM160HC (PATA 5400rpm) = 1x160GB platter (2 heads) Must be a good, fast and very quiet one but it's also brand new one - so no user feedback about its real noise/vibration yet... Wow that's pretty amazing - I thought the current highest GB/platter is the 125GB/platter for the 250GB drives. How come we haven't heard much on this Samsung drive? By the way, I read a while back WD is making a 250GB PATA drive. Does that drive exist? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted October 17, 2007 · Report post So requirements: PATA, 2.5", single platter for min noise/vibration, 5400rpm okay if noise/vibration level not too much from the 4200rpm drive. Samsung M5 series: HM160HC (PATA 5400rpm) = 1x160GB platter (2 heads) Must be a good, fast and very quiet one but it's also brand new one - so no user feedback about its real noise/vibration yet... Wow that's pretty amazing - I thought the current highest GB/platter is the 125GB/platter for the 250GB drives. How come we haven't heard much on this Samsung drive? By the way, I read a while back WD is making a 250GB PATA drive. Does that drive exist? This brand new Samsung has just appeared on market pretty silently... Yes there was a press release about it but that was published relatively long time ago, ahead of time as always with Samsung marketing... However there's also Toshiba MK1652GSX drive already announced (but probably not yet available) which has similar 1x160GB platter configuration. They have also 2x160GB platters version too, for the world's biggest capacity (320GB) standard-height laptop drive MK3252GSX. But these Toshiba models are SATA-only, no PATA versions announced. Yes, WD is the only manufacturer currently having also 250GB PATA laptop drive. It is widely available (in stock) now. WD Scorpio WD2500BEVE. But it is on 2x125GB platters. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted October 29, 2007 · Report post Hi, I bought and installed last friday an HM160HC in my thinkpad T42. This is a REALLY fast PATA laptop drive. It gives sustained transfer speeds from 70MB/Sec to 40MB/sec, much faster than any other laptop drive (including the Hitachi 7K100, which maxes out at around 50MB/sec), and offers not that 'off' access times (around 17ms vs Hitachi's 15ms). Regarding noise, also exceptionally silent (even when seeking), so all in all, I am quite impressed. Besides, it is dirty cheap these days... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted December 7, 2007 · Report post Hi there, I'm interested in HM121HC version which is 120GB PATA version of M5 series - especially if it uses just one platter. Unfortunately Samsung doesn't seem to give any infotmation about which and how many platters are used. They just say "Max. 160GB formatted capacity per disk", which could as well mean 2x60GB or 2x80GB for HM121HC (which might still be cheaper than one 120GB platter) 888 wrote HM160HC version has just one platter, but looking at Samsung's website one could guess this might only be true for SATA version: HM160HI - picture shows one-platter drive HM160HC - picture shows two-platter drive I'm not sure if the pictures match the drives' configurations, but if one looks at some other models it doesn't look coincidental. If anyone knows for sure that HM160HC and HM121HC just use one platter I'd be very grateful if he could tell me, and if possible soon as I need a new drive rather quickly now. Thanks for your help, I really hope someone can tell me. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted December 7, 2007 · Report post Oh, and anyone knows current WD models' platter configurations? Is there one with 1x120GB? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted December 21, 2007 · Report post 888 wrote HM160HC version has just one platter, but looking at Samsung's website one could guess this might only be true for SATA version:HM160HI - picture shows one-platter drive HM160HC - picture shows two-platter drive This is all new to me too, but I will point out this regarding the parallel drives: HM160JC is the older 160gb M80, correct? HM160HC is the newer 160gb M5, correct? They both use the exact same picture on the website. But the M80 page says "80GB Formatted Capacity Per Disk" (80gb platter) and the M5 page says "Max. 160GB formatted capacity per disk", which really means 'it should be a single 160gb platter, but we are covering our asses in case we need to make some with 80gb platters". So I think you are probably good to go if you want to buy a HM160HC with one 160gb platter. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
