Seagate vs WD [not a debate; a simple question]

I have heard that both WD and Seagate are excellent hard drive brands.

I have a hopefully simple question. Which drive would you [personally] choose out of these two?

Western Digital Scorpio Black WD3200BEKT 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache 2.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Notebook Hard Drive - OEM

Seagate Momentus 7200.3 ST9320421AS 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache 2.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Notebook Hard Drive (Bare drive) - OEM

The specs look identical to me, so I was just figuring on it to be a tossup. Personal experience with either would be great.

I have a 13" white Macbook.

If those are the only two choices then the WD Black hands down ! However if you want a drive without the noise and vibration go with
Fujitsu MHZ2320BJ-G2 320GB 7200 RPM 2.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Notebook Hard Drive - OEM

I agree, with those 2 choices I would go also with the WD Scorpio Black.

I tend to go with WD based on name alone. Western Digital is leading the technology curve with hard drives today and their drives are generally very reliable. A brief search of some actual hands-on reviews of that particular model have been very positive.

Toms Hardware did a comparison and the Seagate trumps the WD in terms of all-around performance. But I don't think you can go wrong either way.

clayneal said:

If those are the only two choices then the WD Black hands down ! However if you want a drive without the noise and vibration go with
Fujitsu MHZ2320BJ-G2 320GB 7200 RPM 2.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Notebook Hard Drive - OEM

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Fujitsus have a major problem with EMI bleed into the audio/headphone jack. I just got done removing one for precisely this reason.

CWA, a major reason I suggested WD over Seagate is the bad series of 2.5" Seagates shipped with so many older Macbooks and Minis have dropped like flies due to a defect that caused the heads to move sideways and tear up the platters and the more recent Firmware issues with Desktop Seagates.

Oh, OK. I don't think you can go wrong with either drive, I was just pointing out that the Seagate is the better performer.

I haddnt heard about the EMI issue. I have been using them for a couple of years in pc and never a problem. But now I wonder if I made the right choice when I up graded this Macbook two weeks ago ! But so far no problems , runs fast and smooth with no more noise then the stock drive. I listen to music thru head phones and ear buds every day. But thanx for the heads up.

clayneal said:

I haddnt heard about the EMI issue. I have been using them for a couple of years in pc and never a problem. But now I wonder if I made the right choice when I up graded this Macbook two weeks ago ! But so far no problems , runs fast and smooth with no more noise then the stock drive. I listen to music thru head phones and ear buds every day. But thanx for the heads up.

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If you're using headphones and you notice reverberation at low frequencies or pops and clacks that shouldn't be there, that's your Fujitsu drive. They've had a long-standing problem with this. I've seen it going back 6-7 years, and even with the OEM drive that came with my MBP.

They may have cured it more recently, but I'd be surprised.

CWA , Thanx for the info. I cant say that i have noticed any noise but i am nobodies idea of an audiophile ! But with that in mind I here by withdraw my recommendation . I had always like wd but found the Fujitsu to run smoother at rpms above 5400. But you cant beat the 5 year warranty WD puts on there " Black" drives

cwa107 said:

Oh, OK. I don't think you can go wrong with either drive, I was just pointing out that the Seagate is the better performer.

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I agree completely. I always usually go for Seagate especially for internal hard drives but those two issues so close together just made me a bit leery at least for the moment if you know where I am coming from. Both are great drives overall. I will have to check out that review.

dtravis7 said:

I agree completely. I always usually go for Seagate especially for internal hard drives but those two issues so close together just made me a bit leery at least for the moment if you know where I am coming from. Both are great drives overall. I will have to check out that review.

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The last time I looked hard into new drives (a couple years ago), my general impression was that Seagate had been taking a beating at the time in the area of reliability while WD had come from behind to be a leader in that respect and others. Hopefully they've pulled back out of that cycle. At one time, Seagate was easily my top choice. Nay... only choice.

I have that WD drive, also purchased from newegg (maybe 8 months ago) in my MBP. I might have gone with the Seagate with the motion sensor if it had been available when I was looking. But, I have been well satisifed with the WD. I will also testify the drive is virtually silent.

edit: Had never noticed before, but on looking at System Profiler, it shows the speed to be 1.5 gigabits instead of 3.0. Probably showing the age of my MBP I guess.

A buddy of mine had two (desktop) Seagate drives toast themselves within a three month period. (First the original, then it's replacement.) For that reason I went and bought the Western Digital 320 GB "Black" drive...

I dropped it in my Macbook without a problem.

In my experience, pretty much every consumer drive is about as reliable as any other. Same is true at enterprise level as well.

Wow, thanks guys!

I went ahead and ordered the WD for the warranty and reliability. I also will appreciate the silence, because the one that came with my MB is making some noise when I do some intensive things (like gaming and such).

I can't wait until it comes in. c:

Been using the 320Gb 7200 rpm Scorpio Black for about 9 months without problems in my macbook.

As quiet and cool as the original drive, if not more so.