The Seagate Momentus XT is a new 500 GB 7200 rpm drive for laptops (or desktops with a 3.5"; adapter) that also includes 4 GB of solid state memory for your most often used files.  Most application load times are cut in half, or better, and it's faster than the 10k rpm raptor desktop drive.  This is the kind of drive that would most benefit people loading sample libraries, without paying for the high cost of a SSD drive (which are around $3 per GB)

I just ordered one from [url=http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148591&cm_re=seagate_xt-_-22-148-591-_-Product]here for $130[/url].  I'll post some before/after speed tests when it gets here.

Wow that looks cool! Not sure I could stand the vibration though. I may just wait another year or two and instead of buying a comp, I";ll get an SSD (if the prices come down anyhow)

I was looking at that drive as well. Because of the drive failures from a few years ago, I am
waiting on a Hitachi version. Let us know how it turns out.

I got the drive today and ran some tests.  The results were very noticeable.  I also don't notice any vibration- this is installed in a 15"; MacBook Pro, with rubber mounts, not some plastic Pee Cee :)

My previous drive was a 320 GB 5,400rpm Samsung.  This new drive keeps your most commonly used files in the 4 GB SSD portion, so the more often you use something, the faster it will load.  Here are some before and after times...

Boot up from ";chime"; sound: 77 seconds // 33 seconds.  (Restart is even faster)

After boot, load Photoshop, Safari, and iTunes: 30 seconds // 6 seconds

Load large Logic project with samples: 67 seconds // 40 seconds  (running the test a 2nd time was only 10 seconds)

Xbench overall disk test score: 43 // 62

I ran a bunch of other load time tests and the drive is even faster than my 10,000rpm raptor desktop drive, so I would also use this in a desktop with a 3.5"; adapter.

Nice, Jesse! Might have to pick one of those puppies up.

Stop Tempting me to buy new fun stuff hehehe. If I didn't have a Mac Pro for heavy lifting, I would buy this in like a nano-second.

Charlie this would even speed up that Mac Pro... it's faster than the 10,000 rpm drive in my desktop, so it's definitely faster than the drives that come in the Mac Pro.  Since the hard drive is the bottleneck in many situations, my laptop 'feels' faster than my desktop with twice the CPU and RAM power.

A lot of desktop workstation people buy a 40 or 60GB SSD for their operating system, programs, and samples, then have a 2nd big drive for storing everything else.  I have used a machine like this and it's incredible.  A huge 2 TB drive is now only $110 too. 

J-
    So, you have used this on a MAC Pro and it's solid? Just want to check before I go buying. . . I've been doing all my video editing with my Mac and need a little juice at the moment. I upgraded my internal drive to a 7200rpm 500GB drive back in Jan, but this seems tempting. . . .especially for the performance boost.

[quote author=RGreen link=topic=3704.msg19564#msg19564 date=1276699710]
I upgraded my internal drive to a 7200rpm 500GB drive back in Jan
[/quote]

I remember Jim C. posting about that same thing a few years ago!

It's like Murphy's Law extended into technology purchasing. As soon as you upgrade, it will only be a few months before something comes out that makes you think ";DANGIT, I should have waited!!!";, OR you give into the impulse and upgrade AGAIN:)

What's your plan again, Jim? You upgrade every two years? Three years?

[quote author=Lydian9 link=topic=3704.msg19565#msg19565 date=1276700952]
[quote author=RGreen link=topic=3704.msg19564#msg19564 date=1276699710]
I upgraded my internal drive to a 7200rpm 500GB drive back in Jan
[/quote]

I remember Jim C. posting about that same thing a few years ago!

It's like Murphy's Law extended into technology purchasing. As soon as you upgrade, it will only be a few months before something comes out that makes you think ";DANGIT, I should have waited!!!";, OR you give into the impulse and upgrade AGAIN:)

What's your plan again, Jim? You upgrade every two years? Three years?
[/quote]


Actually I think it's Moore's Law. Technology doubles it's improvements every 18 months.

Murphy's Law - Ha! :) An ironic Freudian Slip perhaps.

[quote author=RGreen link=topic=3704.msg19564#msg19564 date=1276699710]
J-
    So, you have used this on a MAC Pro and it's solid? Just want to check before I go buying. . . I've been doing all my video editing with my Mac and need a little juice at the moment. I upgraded my internal drive to a 7200rpm 500GB drive back in Jan, but this seems tempting. . . .especially for the performance boost.
[/quote]

MacBook Pro, not Mac Pro.  But it could be used in a desktop like Mac Pro, iMac, whatever, with a 3.5"; adapter.  Those are cheap. 

The reason this is a faster drive isn't the rpm, it's the 4 GB SSD (which has no moving parts, so no rpm rating) drive built into it, which stores your most commonly used files.  This is why I mention it being faster than my 10,000rpm raptor desktop drive for the tests that I ran. 

However, you mention it being for video editing- a hard drive is not the determining factor in editing video, it's the cpu for rendering/encoding the video.  This hard drive will make opening the software and loading the movie clips faster, but once it's open, it's all cpu/ram/video card speed while you edit.

That I understand J. . . I'm running 2 raptors right now. . . I think I'll just wait til the SSD come down in price.

This is really interesting. Thanks for sharing your findings Jesse! I've always automatically upgraded my laptop drives to 7200rpm, but this sounds like a great buffer to benefit from SSD technology while still living on a 'hard drive' budget.

These Macbook Pros are made really well, decently hold their value, and are real workhorses. I'd love to get a new one each year, but it's really not necessary unless you have money to burn (who does?). My current MBP is over 3 years old and still rocking like a champ.

Yeah, last I checked a 500 GB SSD was $1,400+.  It's going to be a long time before they're mainstream.