Seagate Momentux XT Hybrid vs. SSD

[EzRiIgK]

Hey all,

Want to upgrade my main drive, but can't decide between a Seagate Momentux XT 500gb Hybrid ($79) vs a SAMSUNG 830 Series 128gb ssd ($89).

Really only planing on using it for window and my day to day programs, which amount to about 60gb. I just hate to trade of 350gb+ if the hybrid is just as good as the ssd.

Any thoughts would be appreciated..


Later, Erik

 

[ram1009]

Hey all,

Want to upgrade my main drive, but can't decide between a Seagate Momentux XT 500gb Hybrid ($79) vs a SAMSUNG 830 Series 128gb ssd ($89).

Really only planing on using it for window and my day to day programs, which amount to about 60gb. I just hate to trade of 350gb+ if the hybrid is just as good as the ssd.

Any thoughts would be appreciated..


Later, Erik

Sorry, but I don't understand the whole concept of a "hybrid" SSD. IMHO the major reason to invest in an SSD is to avoid moving parts.

 

[EzRiIgK]

Hey, don't know if your "i don't understand the whole concept" was a question or not. So in short the 'concept' of a "hybrid" it a small ssd that 'remembers' your most important programs to sped access of said program. rest of the drive is a regular HDD. Might bit faster then a regular HHD. so, increased access speed without losing the space.

I read that ssd, tend to fail after a year or so, true?

Price is about the same.

What is best way to go.


Erik

 

[ram1009]

Hey, don't know if your "i don't understand the whole concept" was a question or not. So in short the 'concept' of a "hybrid" it a small ssd that 'remembers' your most important programs to sped access of said program. rest of the drive is a regular HDD. Might bit faster then a regular HHD. so, increased access speed without losing the space.

I read that ssd, tend to fail after a year or so, true?

Price is about the same.

What is best way to go.


Erik

If any SSDs routinely failed in a year they would already have been withdrawn from the market. Most OEMs guarantee them for at least 3 years. I do understand the mechanics of how a hybrid works. What I don't understand is why anybody would want one. I've been using an M4 for about a year and love it. It hasn't missed a beat. I also have 2 Samsung 830s for a shorter time. The hype about their speed is just that...hype. The only time it's noticeable is on boot up and program launch and it really isn't as dramatic as you imaging. After a brief period of getting used to the drive you won't notice it at all. Don't get me wrong, they are faster but you just won't notice it with every keystroke as some suggest. If you deal with very large files frequently you will notice some difference. I suspect even that becomes normalized soon. What I'm leading up to is that IMHO, the only trait justifying the investment is the dramatic improvement in reliability and a hybrid doesn't have that. Besides, very few people need very large very fast storage. Most people (myself included) instead use a small SSD (usually 256BG or smaller) as a boot drive and a large, relatively slow HDD for storage. I've gone a step further and moved my storage externally. I like that better because I can turn it off when not in use.

 

[EzRiIgK]

Ram1009,

Thanks for the detailed reply. It sort of cemented what I was thinking. Been 'eye-ballin' the Samsung 830 series which my research says is the best. I think I'm going to go with 128gb size. I have 4 other large drives and am only planning on using the ssd for windows and a bunch of small everyday programs. Had a recent drive crash that kinda devastated me! A 1.5TB HDD with months of work on it just crashed! I was able to save the personal files reading the drive via SATA-USB adapter. But I had a couple of hundred little programs on there that I use quite often and now I will have to comb the net to replace them.

Anyway, thanks for your replay. Now off to find a 'Cyber Monday' deal. NOT!

Erik

 

[the great randini]

the samsung is better but if you have a standard hdd for your os, you wont see full speed, not to mention it wont be running in achi mode.
for that reason i would go with seagate.

 

[ocmusicjunkie]

If any SSDs routinely failed in a year they would already have been withdrawn from the market. Most OEMs guarantee them for at least 3 years. I do understand the mechanics of how a hybrid works. What I don't understand is why anybody would want one.

The only reason they exist- and they are a prefect solution for this niche need- is those who have a notebook for their primary system and need a full-size storage drive on a more durable spinning disk, but who also want SSD-type boot times and application launches. A 500gb SSD is still what, around $350-$500 depending on brand? And I still wouldn't trust a half-terabyte of data on flash media. Meanwhile, a 750gb XT hybrid is $125 and offers parity between the flash and platter storage.

Don't get me wrong, I run a SSD as my only drive in the older notebook I own. However, I also have four desktop builds to make use of for data storage. If I had a single notebook system for all my purposes, even if it was a brand-new Intel i7, top of the line machine, I'd probably still compromise with the hybrid over SSD.

 

[ram1009]

Ram1009,

Thanks for the detailed reply. It sort of cemented what I was thinking. Been 'eye-ballin' the Samsung 830 series which my research says is the best. I think I'm going to go with 128gb size. I have 4 other large drives and am only planning on using the ssd for windows and a bunch of small everyday programs. Had a recent drive crash that kinda devastated me! A 1.5TB HDD with months of work on it just crashed! I was able to save the personal files reading the drive via SATA-USB adapter. But I had a couple of hundred little programs on there that I use quite often and now I will have to comb the net to replace them.

Anyway, thanks for your replay. Now off to find a 'Cyber Monday' deal. NOT!

Erik

Sorry about your crash. We all seem to learn the "backup" lesson the hard way. Remember, even though they are much more reliable because of the lack of moving parts SSDs can still fail electronically just as they do on a HDD so create a backup system. Good luck.

 

[EzRiIgK]

Ram1009

Again, thanks for the reply and the advice about the backup. Let me tell ya the short version of my crash nightmare.

After the main drive crash, I said "no big deal"! I have a separate 1tb drive i use for monthly (like clock work, last day of the month) exclusively! I also have a 2tb drive i use for various other stuff. But I also keep a 3 month old backup on that drive.

So, after getting all my personal files of the crashed drive, I attempt a bunch of repairs to the crash drive to no avial. So I reformat it. reinstall windows (vista) and ATTEMPT to recover from the 1 month backup. When i run the backup program (EaseUS Todo free) it tells me there is no backup on the drive. even though i can see the 651gb backup on the drive. anyway did a bunch to try that to no avail.

So, go to the 3 month only backup. Done via windows. But how can i do it if i can't boot into the crashed drive. So i figure it out. the restore finishes. I can see the file difference, viewing the files via SATA-USB. Put the drive back into the desk top. Boot back up! Nothing same as before the restore.

So, now I'm just gonna buy a new SSD and only put the programs i HAVE to on it. don't trust the crashed drive, even though ALL scans say there is nothing wrong with it. OH WELL, guess a fresh start will get rid of all the junk I wasn't using anyway. Again, thanks for the advice.

Erik

 

[ram1009]

Ram1009

Again, thanks for the reply and the advice about the backup. Let me tell ya the short version of my crash nightmare.

After the main drive crash, I said "no big deal"! I have a separate 1tb drive i use for monthly (like clock work, last day of the month) exclusively! I also have a 2tb drive i use for various other stuff. But I also keep a 3 month old backup on that drive.

So, after getting all my personal files of the crashed drive, I attempt a bunch of repairs to the crash drive to no avial. So I reformat it. reinstall windows (vista) and ATTEMPT to recover from the 1 month backup. When i run the backup program (EaseUS Todo free) it tells me there is no backup on the drive. even though i can see the 651gb backup on the drive. anyway did a bunch to try that to no avail.

So, go to the 3 month only backup. Done via windows. But how can i do it if i can't boot into the crashed drive. So i figure it out. the restore finishes. I can see the file difference, viewing the files via SATA-USB. Put the drive back into the desk top. Boot back up! Nothing same as before the restore.

So, now I'm just gonna buy a new SSD and only put the programs i HAVE to on it. don't trust the crashed drive, even though ALL scans say there is nothing wrong with it. OH WELL, guess a fresh start will get rid of all the junk I wasn't using anyway. Again, thanks for the advice.

Erik

I have some history with "free" backup software myself. They're worth exactly what you pay for them. I think you're doing the right thing not trusting the old drive. It requires a little fiscal discipline but I try to replace all HDDs and SSDs at 3 years.

 

[EzRiIgK]

Ram1009,

Thanks for the tip. Never even thought about replacement. Was just gonna buy a new SSD (which I'm still gonna do). Went back to my newegg account and discover the HDD still has 5 months on the warranty. So i registered it with WD and got an RMA and they are shipping me a new drive. So at least I won't be so worried about putting anything on the drive anymore!!!


Regards, Erik