MacBook Pro and the Seagate Momentus 500GB 7200RPM Drive
June 7, 2009 – 8:08 pmI went ahead and picked up the granddaddy of all laptop hard drives for my MacBook Pro – the Seagate Momentus 500GB 7200RPM with SATA 3.0 (model ST9500420AS). I upgraded from a Hitachi 320GB 7200RPM drive and boy, what a wonderful difference!
Using Carbon Copy Cloner, it took roughly 3 1/2 hours to clone the contents of my 320GB drive to the 500GB. 120GB of photos was the #1 slow down, and #2 was the 320GB drive dragging its proverbial feet. Once the cloning was done, replacing the 320 with the 500 took about 2 minutes – 5 little screws (1 brace and 4 stabilizers on the drive).
The first thing I noticed was that the 500GB Seagate drive boots about 40% faster than the 320GB Hitachi. Apps open up a little faster – not 40% faster, but certainly 20% or so.
Once I’d booted up, I ran several tests and scans on the drive to make sure the drive was going to be stable and error free. Nothing sucks quite so much as banking on a new hard drive, only to have it melt down. Tests showed no drive flaws.
I then ran an XBench test to compare the two drives. The 500GB drive scored well over twice as fast as the 320GB with sequential and random reads/writes. For the non-techies, this simply means that this new Seagate drive whips the snot out of the Hitachi drive.
(XBench is a free utility that every Mac user should have, even if it’s rarely used.)
On the down side, the Seagate drive is just as loud as the 320GB Hitachi. That was a little disappointment to me. That said, the drive isn’t “noisy” per se, it’s just that the spinning is clearly audible in a near silent room or if one listens within 6 or 7 inches of the laptop body. No huge deal.
Other positives? XP boots and runs faster in Parallels. So does Windows 7. So does Linux. Photoshop CS4 opens up 25% faster and runs actions in an instant. File transfers to other 7200RPM drives are way faster. In short, pretty much everything is better and faster.
The best part of all? After Leopard, tons of apps, tens of thousands of photos, etc. I’ve got about 300GB free. Awesome!!
If you’re considering buying the Seagate 500GB drive, I hope these comments help. And hopefully you wind up with a good stable drive that passes any tests you subject it to.
Stumble it!
Tags: 500GB, MacBook Pro, Seagate, Upgrade
33 Responses to “MacBook Pro and the Seagate Momentus 500GB 7200RPM Drive”
Hey, nice post, really well written. You should post more about this.
By Mike on Jun 8, 2009
Hey, I bought the same drive and it took my new MacBook Pro 17″ maximum battery life from about 7hrs 40 min to 4hrs 40 min…. did you have the same problem…?
By Joe on Jun 17, 2009
hey im just curious. I recently aquired a white core duo 2.0ghz macbook and was wondering about heat issues. how does your macbook react. does it put out alot of heat. since i would assume you have it running since june 7. just wondering please let me know.
By Muzammil on Jun 20, 2009
Hi Muzammil – I’ve experienced no heat issues with this new 7200RPM drive. Temperatures are staying in very normal ranges (95°F), which is cooler than I would expect. I hope that helps.
By JasonTomczak on Jun 21, 2009
Hi Joe – sorry for the long delay in response. I have noticed a very slight decrease in battery time with the new 7200RPM drive. By very slight, I mean no more than 10-15% depending on how active the drive is. Your drop is closer to 40%, which is really odd. I’d be a little concerned, too.
On my 15″ MBP, I keep the power settings as benevolent to the battery as possible. I keep my screen brightness one notch below max (makes a big difference), and I have the hard drive sleep whenever not in use. I also found that I was making no use of the suped-up video card, so I switched it to the low-power 256MB side. Still works wonders, still lights up my 24″ Samsung LCD screen, etc.
That said, I will be switching to a 17″ MBP in the next couple days, so I’ll have a much better frame of reference for battery time. I’ll post results asap for direct Apples-to-Apples comparison (ba-dah!).
By JasonTomczak on Jun 21, 2009
Hi Joe and Jason. I just put in the Segate 500 7200 RPM on my new Macbook Pro 2.53. It’s fast alright, but I’m looking at 3.5 hours of battery life now, down from a supposed 7 hours. I love the room and speed, but it’s just not worth losing all that battery. Do you think it could be a problem with my battery? I usually use quite a few apps at a time, but also put hard drive to sleep when possible and don’t max out brightness. Any ideas?
By Trevor on Jun 28, 2009
Trevor and Joe,
I’m in the midst of a battery test right now to determine how my 17″ MacBook Pro handles the 7200RPM drive. So far I’m 2h 31m into the test, and my MBP is reporting that remaining battery time is 3h 52m. That equates to a rough battery life of 6h 23m, about 30 mins shy of Apple’s 7 hour estimate. That estimate changes periodically when I open or close apps, and the differences vary depending on which apps I run, so it’s pretty fluid. Granted, I’m being pretty gentle on resources – nothing like Photoshop, iDVD or the like. That and I have my screen brightness dropped to the 3rd notch under the brightest setting.
It’s important to remember that Apple’s quote of “up to 7 hours” of battery life is not a guaranteed achievement but a best case scenario when conditions are right, under the standard configuration. Essentially, the 7 hour mark is a holy grail that can be reached, but typically if the moon & stars align and the gods deem it appropriate. Using a 7200RPM drive will certainly drop expectations a bit, but it should not wipe out 40% or more of the MBP’s battery life as some people are reporting. If battery time is reduced by that much, I would definitely look into the situation – battery refresh, possible replacement, etc.
Another thing I’ve noticed – the more RAM is installed, the less OS X has to utilize the hard drive. Battery life increases dramatically from 2GB to 4GB. I look forward to dropping 8GB into my MBP to see how battery life is improved. If anyone has already done so, I sure would like to know the results.
By JasonTomczak on Jun 28, 2009
The final result for my 17″ MacBook Pro + 7200RPM 500GB drive battery test was 6 hours 11 minutes.
In comparison to my own tests, here’s a great link showing “real world” battery life stats for the 17″ MacBook Pro.
Light Use + Better Battery Life = 6h 53m
Light Use + Higher Performance = 6h 04m
Moderate Use + Better Battery Life = 4h 40m
Moderate Use + Higher Performance = 3h 50m (a la Joe and Trevor)
(Better Battery Life & Higher Performance are options in the “Energy Saver” panel)
By JasonTomczak on Jun 29, 2009
I have a MacBook Pro 15″ 2.2GH with a 120 5400 rpm SATA. Do you know if this 500GB will work for me. Great Page, Thanks.
Bob
By Bob Russo on Jun 30, 2009
Hi Bob,
Absolutely. The 500GB drive would be awesome in your MacBook Pro. The only trouble is that your particular model is a little more difficult to open and access the hard drive. That said, the last time I did so, it took me less than 8 minutes to pull the old drive, put in the new drive and get the case put back together.
If you go to ifixit.com, you’ll find a great pictorial guide to swapping your hard drive.
Good luck with the swap!
Jason
P.S. As long as you’re planning to upgrade the hard drive, also check newegg.com for RAM prices. You should be able to max out your system RAM for under $50.
By JasonTomczak on Jun 30, 2009
Just did this upgrade myself, to my 15-inch unibody MacBook Pro.
It’s working well, and everything does feel snappier. The only downside is that I feel some vibration that wasn’t present before with the stock 320 GB drive. No big deal; just not perfect.
By Kristopher Johnson on Aug 13, 2009
BTW, if you are doing the upgrade yourself, you’ll need a #00 Phillips screwdriver and a Torx T6 screwdriver.
By Kristopher Johnson on Aug 13, 2009
Kristopher, yes there is definitely a little extra vibe in the 500GB drive. I noticed the exact same thing when I had the 500GB in my MacBook Pro. There’s nothing wrong with the drive when it makes that hum, but it is something to get used to. Look on the bright side – you’ve got some barely audible white noise, and the 500GB size is pretty awesome. =)
The only drive I’ve found that permanently and fully silences a laptop is an SSD.
Good note about the Phillips and Torx screwdrivers. Inexpensive sets can be found at Home Depot, Lowes, Fry’s, etc.
By JasonTomczak on Aug 13, 2009
Just wondering if anyone has already dropped 8 gig of Memory into a MBP with the 500 GB 7200 HD…?
Any difference to the battery life…?
By don on Aug 27, 2009
What do you think about Western Digital WD3200BEKT 320GB 2.5″ Hard Drive SATAII 7200rpm 16MB Cache – OEM Scorpio Black on MBP 15″
By Wills on Aug 28, 2009
How About this in an Old Macbook white (Mid 2007)
Im about to choose between this device and WD blue 500gb 5400rpm….
Batterylife and heat is an important factor during the use in daily class.
By Lenny on Aug 30, 2009
Hi Don,
Any increase in RAM is going to have a positive effect on battery life. The most startling improvements are noticed when increasing from 1GB to 2GB RAM. OS X (or any OS for that matter) uses the hard drive less for paging, and thereby reduces spin cycles. Increasing from 2GB to 4GB also has a very positive effect on battery life, but perhaps not so dramatically. And while I’m sure the same function applies to 8GB of RAM (the entirety of Snow Leopard takes up less space than that), sadly I don’t know anyone lucky enough to have 8GB in a MacBook Pro.
In my own experience, running 4GB RAM has helped immensely, and adding a Corsair SSD made things even better. =)
Jason
By JasonTomczak on Aug 30, 2009
Hey Willis,
I used a drive like the WD 320GB before and I loved it. It was quiet and very fast. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136280&Tpk=WD3200BEKT $79 is a pretty decent price, too. That said, you could spend another $15 and get the 500GB model.
Jason
By JasonTomczak on Aug 30, 2009
Hi Lenny,
If you’re referring to this drive (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136314), then I can tell you it is a great deal. I used that drive in a unibody MacBook. That drive gave me decent battery life and almost no issue with heat.
One thing to consider is the health of your laptop battery. The more your battery is used, the more it wears out. What may have given you 5 hours of charge when brand new could give only 3 hours after 12-18 months of use/abuse.
One of my favorite little widgety apps is Coconut Battery (http://www.coconut-flavour.com/coconutbattery/). It gives you lots of helpful info about your battery, how much power it’s actually putting out (original vs. current mAh), how many full cycles it’s been used, etc.
I hope that helps.
By JasonTomczak on Aug 30, 2009
Thanks for the answer Jason!
I did order the Seagate HDD this evening for about 138USD(1044SEK) here in Sweden. Yes, it´s very expensive with storage here just because of taxes… But import isn´t any alternative for me when it´s about mechanic hardware.
I´ve used the software alot before and I´m taking very good care of my battery, so now after 25months and 518 Battery-Load cycles it still has 4772mAh of the 5020mAh that it was delivered with =D.
So I hope that my old Macbook will just accept the new Drive and live for at least my last year at the university as a student
PS. just an example. My cousin left his “Same-Old” Macbook for 2 weeks and the battery is totally stoneDEAD, so Taking care of the battery is very important!
Greets
Lenny
By Lenny on Sep 3, 2009
I was wondering how much it cost you guys for the 500GB drive? Any cheaper then having apple put it in for you?
By D on Sep 4, 2009
When I got mine, I paid roughly $130. It looks like the current price is $119, however I noticed on newegg.com that this hard drive has been getting a number of bad reviews. It could be that the newest iteration of this drive is experiencing problems that the previous model did not. Mine is still working beautifully. So, caveat emptor and all that good stuff.
By JasonTomczak on Sep 4, 2009
I installed the same drive in my 13″ MB Pro and I noticed my battery draining quicker. After searching a bit I found that the SATA interface on the MB pro is 1.5Gbits/sec and the drive is 3Gbits per second, so a jumper may need to be placed on the drive to force it into 1.5 mode to stop it from spinning and save batter life. I am going to give it a try to see if it changes anything. I can feel the drive humming through the keyboard now so hopefully the jumper will work. I have my energy settings to put the drive to sleep when no in use and there has been no change.
By Greg Iafeliece on Oct 1, 2009
Ok I put the jumper in and the computer would not boot from the drive so I removed the jumper and everything is working. After speaking with a tech at the mac store I was told the drive is set for ‘performance and quick access’ from the manufacturer so I guess I have to live with a shorter battery life..
By Greg Iafeliece on Oct 1, 2009
Just installed Seagate Momentus 500 GB 7200.4 in 15″ 2006 MacBook Pro. Was 80 GB Seagate OEM… we’ll see.. heat issues anyone… Working wonderfully for two days now.. but feels a bit “hot” in the power input (upper left corner near escape key)…. will keep you posted.. please advise on heat issues anyone….???
By bart on Oct 4, 2009
hey Jason,
great info here. You suggested to Willis that he shell out an extra 15 bux for the WD 500gb drive, but that one still runs at 5400rpm… Isn’t the real thing that you want to do is pick up the speed with the 7200 rpm drive? I am leaning towards the WD 320gb/7200rpm for my MacBook Pro mainly because of reviews on new egg… The seagate seems to be getting a lot of bad reviews as of late with drives doa or failing. Any update on your opinion of this drive?
thanks for the help
By Marwan Salfiti on Oct 5, 2009
I was wondering if it would work out putting a Seagate Momentus 500GB 7200rpm into a 2007 Macbook (2.o/2×512/80/Combo) that has a 5400rpm 80GB Sata hard drive. And I’m also replacing the screen. So I’ve got my hands full, and it’s the first time ever working on a Mac. So can I do that up grade with the hard drive ? And does anyone have any suggestions for a good site to follow a step by step guide ? I’m doing this now so a quick answer would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Kirt M.
By kirt on Oct 8, 2009
Hi Kirt,
Almost any 5400 or 7200 RPM laptop hard drive should fit in your MacBook, so long as it’s SATA and not olde schoole ATA. Here’s a how-to from ifixit.com.
As for the LCD replacement (yes, you sure have some work cut out for yourself), check this how-to from ifixit.com should give you the basic steps, complete with photos. If that’s not the exact model MacBook, you can search that same site for a closer match.
Good luck!
By JasonTomczak on Oct 8, 2009
Hi there,
This is for Greg in case he’s still tuned in. I have a weird problem where my 13 Macbook Pro is not going to sleep when I run the battery down – it shuts off completely. I’ve gone through one logic board and battery via Apple repair, and the issue remains. So, now I’m thinking that Greg’s comment about slightly higher power drain may be the culprit. Unfortunately I gave up the original drive so it’s not handy to check out. But if anyone else is noticing this it would be helpful to hear.
By Malcolm A. MacIver on Oct 26, 2009
Malcolm,
Sorry, not checked back in a bit. Mine will go to sleep and give the warnings about low battery. I still have the original drive, use it for time machine. There is no way I get anywhere close to 7 or 6 hours of use on my machine. I have not done a stand-bye battery test with it unplugged and maybe email open. Maybe later…
Greg
By Greg Iafeliece on Jan 30, 2010
There seem to be a lot of reliability problems reported with this drive:
http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Momentus-ST9500420AS-Bare-Frustration-Free-Packaging/dp/B001R4BBLU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1265710557&sr=8-1
Anybody here seen any problems?
By Jaime on Feb 9, 2010
This is for Bart, relative to the potential heat problem. I’m interested in knowing if that is resolved; I have a 2006 Macbook Pro, 15.4″, and had heat problems until I installed smcFanControl, a freeware program that has worked flawlessly for me since I installed it. However, I’m getting ready to install the Seagate Momentus 500gb 7200 in my machine, and wondered if you were having heat problems in spite of having a fan control program installed.
By Mike on Mar 5, 2010
i’ve been looking thru all these comments and i have some to reply to….
as far as battery life, yes it decreases the battery like and cuts that 7-6 hours down to about 5-4 hours. (its sad i know) but its the truth. i installed this drive a few months ago on my MBP 15″ 2009 model and i absolutely love it, i’m a power whore house and a DJ. i have a ridiculous amount of music, videos etc… i use this for active work in clubs and it throws down perfectly. i do experience heat issues but who doesnt? i feel like the ventilation for the MBP is not sufficient for the space under the screen and especially if its on your lap or if u have it on a pillow it gets hot because the vents get blocked. thats the only time i’ve had heat issues.
i have little to none for vibration issues…seagate is pretty good so far and hopefully it wont fail. i had a WD scorpio blue 500gb @ 5400 and it kept on freezing my comp.
By deejay nme on Mar 13, 2010