I recently saw a review of fast notebook hard drives. Check it out:
Seagate Momentus 7200.4 vs other notebook drives
Looks like the one you picked is the second fastest. By far the fastest, though, is that new Seagate Momentus 7200.4 500GB. However, it probably costs a lot more. I'm seeing prices around $130 and up for it.
Personally, I've got nothing against Hitachi. If you buy from them, Western Digital, Seagate, or Samsung, you're probably fine. Given how cheap that Hitachi is (and how fast it is), I think it has to be the best deal out there.
Regarding Seagate and firmware problems, that was just one model of drive, the 7200.11 3.5" desktop hard drive. And I think it was only the 1 TB version. Either way, they certainly haven't "always" had firmware problems, it's just a recent thing. I don't think it ought to ruin their reputation as a drive maker any more than Hitachi's Deskstar 75GXP fiasco. Just avoid the bad models and you'll be fine.