Laptop Hard Drive is Failing

[bofa]

Well, after a few years of solid service, the hard drive in my Macbook Pro is failing (33 bad sectors as of my last test). So, I'm considering upgrading to a SSD or a Hybrid but could use some input. It will hold a 2.5" drive up to 9.5mm tall, and I believe is set up for SATA 2.0. I don't want to drop a ton of money into it because I just assume buy a new one if I go that route, which is why Hybrid is up for consideration.The hybrid looks to be 1/3 the price with 2x the capacity of a comparable SSD.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

 

[Kung]

I've got a hybrid; it's a good deal faster than a 'normal' SATA hard drive, but obviously not a full on SSD. All it really is, is a hard drive with a freaking HUGE cache (the one on mine is like 64Gb); your most frequently used programs are cached there (at least, they are on Windows - not sure how it might be different with the Mac. On my Windows laptop, startup before replacement was like 1:20 with a regular hard drive; was 0:55 to 1:00 with the SSHD. To me, that's a pretty decent increase.

It really comes down to money, in my opinion. If you've got it, go SSD; if not, get an SSHD. You'll be moderately pleased with the speed increase above a regular hard drive, but of course it's not quite as fast as a full SSD.

Also - you probably know this, but back your stuff up. LOL

 

[bofa]

Haha, yeah I've been using a 1TB external for the past year when I saw some initial signs. I'm surprised it has limped along this long.

I think I'm leaning hybrid. I'm not opposed to the expense of a SSD but I don't use this nearly as intensively as I used to for gaming and design. Now it's mostly spreadsheets and browsing, and still the occasional graphic or something for my wife's classroom.

I found three hybrids that I think will work and have decent reviews. One is 7200 rpm but seems to be the older model so I'm wondering if they've somehow tweaked the performance of the 5400 rpm.

Older 7200 -> Amazon.com: Seagate Momentus 7200 750 GB 7200RPM SATA 3Gb/s 16 MB Cache 2.5 Inch Internal Notebook Hard Drive -Bare Drive ST9750420AS: Electronics

Newer 5400 -> Amazon.com: Seagate Momentus 7200 750 GB 7200RPM SATA 3Gb/s 16 MB Cache 2.5 Inch Internal Notebook Hard Drive -Bare Drive ST9750420AS: Electronics

Newer "superspeed" 5400 -> Amazon.com: Seagate Superspeed Laptop 1TB SSHD Solid State Hybrid Drive STBD1000400: Computers & Accessories

 

[bofa]

nvm cache is fine

 

[bofa]

I think I answered my own question about usage and a quick search on the performance of the newer 5400 vs 7200 showed that performance differences were minimal, however stability and heat output was much better in laptops with the 5400. So I ordered one and now I patiently await my Amazon order. :llama:

 

[Kung]

I chose mine for one main reason: Beta test and therefore was provided to me for free.

 

[bofa]

It's ALIVE!

After a 5 minute surgery and 4 hours of recovery, the MBP is back and fast as ever.

arty: