WD Shows Off SSHD Hybrid 5mm Hard Drives

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[citation][nom]fancarolina[/nom]Simply Western Digitals copy of the Seagate Momentus XT.[/citation]
But with MORE flash :) . The Momentus XT has SLC flash so it may well outlive the drive it self.

The driver requirement honestly sucks because it may not work right with other operating systems.

I like the 5mm height.
 

alextheblue

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[citation][nom]fancarolina[/nom]Simply Western Digitals copy of the Seagate Momentus XT.[/citation]
No. They're actually quite different. Seagate's Momentus XT (I've got one) is not bad by any means (especially the newest models!), but it uses a much simpler caching method. The advantage of Seagate's approach is that it is done entirely on-drive and it is software-agnostic - meaning it works on any OS, and requires no drivers. In fact the OS will just think it is a regular mechanical HDD and treat it as such.

The disadvantage is that the Momentus XT is not as good at knowing WHAT to cache. A driver-based solution will be similar to Intel's SRT caching system. It will be smarter, faster, and has a lot more cache to play with. In fact, given how good some of the caching systems are, I must disagree with the author's assertion that you'd get better performance by having complete manual control over the drive.

Think about it. If you install Windows on the tiny SSD, you've got a lot of files in that installation that aren't accessed regularly. That's a waste of precious cache, and leaves less room to cache installed programs! So instead of automatically caching most of your software's commonly accessed files, you're suggesting that we manually cache ALL of the files of a more limited number of programs? That leaves the rest to run ENTIRELY on the mechanical side.

Just let the caching system learn what it needs to keep in NAND and what to keep on the mechanical bit, and in regular daily use the system will have better overall performance. It might not be as fast at a particular task, but it will be better across the board. It also greatly simplifies space management. You could shove this drive in your parent's laptop, install the drivers, and they would be able to enjoy the speed boost without worrying about capacity.

If you really want no compromise, you either have to get a very large and expensive SSD, or get a larger laptop with dual bays. I actually lean towards the latter, myself, but most people don't have two bays, don't have tons of cash to burn, and have at least some space concerns.
 

twelve25

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You can't really run newer versions of Windows (or Mac OS) in 24GB anyway, so what's the diff if it's available separately?

(okay, technically you could install it if you were really selective about what apps, patches and services you ran)


 

itzsnypah

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I think Intel should redefine their SSD policy in Ultrabooks. Something like 1:9 ratio of NAND:HDD GB or better.
So in a 500GB model atleast 64GB would be NAND. Who cares if it drives up the price somewhat, a vastly superior experience would more than make up for the extra cost.
 

neiroatopelcc

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Just get a seagate momentus instead! 750GB mechanical storage and 8GB SLC transparent SSD that caches the blocks of data you actually use a lot. They're working without special drivers by the way.
 

danwat1234

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[citation][nom]nukemaster[/nom]But with MORE flash . The Momentus XT has SLC flash so it may well outlive the drive it self.The driver requirement honestly sucks because it may not work right with other operating systems.I like the 5mm height.[/citation]
But it needs drivers :(, like the original 256MB hybrid hard drives. It should be automatic by default as a read AND write cache, and be configurable with a WD toolbox but only optional.
I'll take an OS independent hybrid drive any day.

24GB of flash is nice but since this drive is aimed at ultrabooks it is probably just 5400RPM.
 

Pherule

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[citation][nom]ojas[/nom]So you should put the term "SSHD" in quotes, not "hybrid" and "hybrid hard drive".[/citation]

Solid State Hybrid Drive
 

WithoutWeakness

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[citation][nom]noblerabbit[/nom]Just buy an SSD for crying out loud, and load up your other ports with cheap 3TB Seagates.[/citation]
You're right. I'll just shove a few 3.5" drives in my Ultrabook and I'll be all set. /sarcasm
 
G

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Why is this even news? Lots of ultrabooks in the market now already uses hard drive such as this? Are we confusing invention that is a few years old with current news?
 
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