500GB Seagate Momentus XT 2.5" SATA II NCQ Internal Solid State Hybrid Drive SSD (ST95005620AS) $50 + Free Shipping

Quote from Kelzebubba : How would this drive fare in a Playstation 3?

Probably pretty well. Although, unless you are filling a drive, an SSD is amazing in a PS3. Loads games and maps much faster.

I like this drive alot. Currently have it on my laptop and I noticed a nice improvement to boot up time.

I have been using this drive as my primary drive running Windows 7 Ultimate for over a year now and I have not had any major issues or hangup because of the drive and I do a lot of video editing. Performance wise, the drive does out perform most if not all 3.5" 7200 rpm drives but it is no where near the speed of a SSD but a great alternative. Just my 2 cents...

Looking for a drive for mostly storage (got an SSD for programs) in a new build. Is this overkill? The price/gigabyte actually isn't too bad from what I've been seeing recently.

Quote from buddyboy : Looking for a drive for mostly storage (got an SSD for programs) in a new build. Is this overkill? The price/gigabyte actually isn't too bad from what I've been seeing recently.

If you already have your apps and your OS on the SSD, then I wouldn't see a point in getting a hybrid drive just for storage. Just go with HDD for storage. What do you mean by "mostly" storage?

This drive is pretty much a faster-than-average HDD, but it won't exactly blow your mind. Don't confuse it with the 2nd Gen Momentus XT (the 750GB variant) which is nearly indistinguishable from an SSD in typical usage. I think this drive is perfect for that one guy whose hard drive was dying.

Sources:
1st Gen (this one) Review: http://www.tomshardware.com/revie...38-13.html
2nd Gen Momentus XT Review: http://www.tomshardware.com/revie...223-8.html

EDIT: I've heard from people who've owned the XT that it's not close to SSD performance. I was not entirely clear on whether this person was referring to a 1st or 2nd Gen one though.

Have this drive and very happy with it. The 3 year warranty is a huge plus.

Might as well get a ssd and a hd instead of this. Why would I let a software decide what programs should be stored in the ssd cache.

Quote from landon87 : Might as well get a ssd and a hd instead of this. Why would I let a software decide what programs should be stored in the ssd cache.

how would you do that in a 12" laptop?

Quote from mavv : I agree this is a great price! I bought this same drive from Newegg a few months ago for $70 and it works great.

yep, i have already had one for 70 as well from newegg before too.

Quote from fyu : how would you do that in a 12" laptop?

swap out the dvd drive in the laptop with a 2.5 sata hdd bay.

Quote from The_Doug : This drive is pretty much a faster-than-average HDD, but it won't exactly blow your mind. Don't confuse it with the 2nd Gen Momentus XT (the 750GB variant) which is nearly indistinguishable from an SSD in typical usage. I think this drive is perfect for that one guy whose hard drive was dying. Sources: 1st Gen (this one) Review: http://www.tomshardware.com/revie...38-13.html 2nd Gen Momentus XT Review: http://www.tomshardware.com/revie...223-8.html

for a playstation 3 i wonder if the Momentus XT 750gb would make a huge difference... not all games do the hard drive caching. so perhaps only a game like Gran Turismo 5 could benefit since it installs lots of file to disk. Though the 500gb and 700gb are still both 7,200 RPM i guess the extra NAND really helps cache more.

Just in time for my new computer

Where I see this drive being an ideal upgrade is for an older laptop, running Windows XT (therefore lacking the TRIM function and thus incapable of supporting a full SSD) and having a slow, small hard drive presently. In that setting the improved boot time, somewhat improved app performance and improved capacity will all be noticeable and appreciated. Of course, if the laptop is so old that it's using PATA hard drives, then you're just SOL---time for a new laptop instead.

For an HTPC this drive makes a huge difference, low power, almost silent, runs cool and it seems very fast on always-on or standby PCs.