Momentus XT, Momentus, Momentus Thin, MobileMax, and other notebook drives

[jbgange]

Trying to figure out tthe difference, but product descriptions look identical.

[AlanM]

They should be the same drive.  The STAN500100 is the newer way of making model numbers.

[jbgange]

I was wondering why they are Priced differently if they are the same.

[Stilgar1973]

I just purchased the STAN500100 model.  Do I need to do a firmware update?  None of the firmware pages list that model as included in the firmware update.

[AlanM]

jbgange,

Ah, good point.

The different prices do not necessarily mean that they are different, but probably what we're seeing is that there are usually slightly different model number shipments from time to time.  I don't fully understand the reasoning behind doing that, but it probably has to do partly with manufacturing timing and a desire not to flood the stores with too many drives, etc.

Obviously a good general rule is that the cheaper is slightly older, but I wouldn't honestly expect a whole lot of performance difference.  If it's me, without a solid and obvious good reason, I just buy the cheaper since their specs will be almost identical.

Stilgar1973,

You can see the firmware level by using SeaTools for DOS.

If you don't have SD24, I recommend updating to it, yes.

Seatools for DOS tutorial[201271]

[jbgange]

Thanks for the response.

I am curious because I want to get atleast 1 if not 3 more drives to set up a raid.  I have seen people on here with raid 0 and 2 drives and am curious if these drives can be used in raid 10 with 4 drives? Just wasn't sure if the new model was significantly different, such as being 3.5 inch instead of 2.5.

Thanks again

[Showb1zz]

I just purchased the ST950056220AS from Amazon and it came in a brown box with just the drive.  I checked at Bestbuy and the other model# is on the box.  So I assume that the one I bought from Amazon (listed at $99) is just the bare drive (in fact that is in the description from Amazon), nothing else.  

Same drive.  It came with the SD23 firmware as well.

Hope this helps

[Keaka26]

I don't think these drives are compatible with RAID.  You wouldn't see any benefit over any other 7200 RPM HDD...I believe this has to do with the adaptive learning process and logic stuff going on in the drive.  Won't work with striping (RAID 0)

[jclausius]

Disputing the "Won't work with striping (RAID 0)" comment -

Search for "RAID" on these links -

+ http://storageeffect.media.seagate.com/2010/05/storage-effect/momentus-xt-what-the-experts-are-sayin...

+ http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/seagate_momentus_xt_500gb/12.htm

Other links exist for RAID 0 as well.

[aleximas]

I was wondering why they are Priced differently if they are the same.

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[Keaka26]

I'm not saying that the drive wont function in RAID, I was just saying that I don't think that the learning process will work with the striping.  I think that If you built a RAID 0 on two momentus XTs, benchmarked it, then magically removed the whole solid state memory and learning process, then re-benchmarked, you'd get the same results...

Thats all...  

[MWalker]

 Thinking that the newer version has less bugs, and could possibly be more power efficient (hopefully). 

When I bought my STAN500100 the "older" model was beside it on the shelf at Best Buy.

Reading the info on the box, the STAN500100 was simply a color difference in packaging.

So I purchased the newer version for the higher price.

[JanJanowski]

Can Seagate Kindly respond to this question?

I can't see paying $30-40 more for the same specs.....

And if the firmware can't be updated, that's a detriment to purchasing....

Please Seagate explain the difference in the products!!!

Please also tell us about 2nd Generation Momentus XT's!!! !

[JanJanowski]

So I sent a tech request to Seagate....

Here's the answer I got:   Question was: "What do I get for the $30-40 extra cost?"

Hello Jan,

No difference. Just the nomenclature ( naming system) has changed.

I needed a model number, looked for it via www.pricegrabber. Viola your answer.

Sincerely, thank you for contacting Seagate Support.

Kindest Regards,

 Jan

[lisdavid89]

Just did a look at both (since I own both models):

STAN500100 and ST95005620AS have the same specs except STAN500100 comes with firmware SD26 while ST95005620AS starts with firmware SD22 and currently maxes out at SD25. I wish SeaGate would give like an update log as to what each firmware does and what the firmware upgrade changed (unless they did and I just can't find it).

[lchutton]

Like those above, I wanted to find out the differences to help decide if the $20 - $40 price difference is warranted.  (Note, while many stores carry both, the ST95005620as is not always the cheaper of the two.) Problem is, even after reading the above posts, including the response from the Seagate tech, I'm still not sure what the differences are.  Is it just the firmware?  According the replies I received, it appears, but I wouldn't bet on it, the STAN500100 is 6 GBS SATA whereas the ST95005620as is 3GBS SATA

Here are the answers I received from the Seagate tech.  (Sorry, I tried to copy and paste his replies and my question and change fonts & colors to make the thread easier to follow, but it didn't work very well.) As you will read, he wasn't very clear either as it appears he just copied and pasted info from two different types of data sheets.  Here is the first reply: 

The Stan500100:
Momentus® XT Solid State Hybrid Hard Drive 
Solid state hybrid laptop hard drive for extreme speed and capacity
80% faster than traditional 7200 RPM drives
Improved system response with Adaptive Memory™ technology
Energy efficient & quiet
Works in any standard laptop with any OS
6 GBS Sata faster than the older model STAN500100 drive.

The ST95005620as:
Momentus® XT Solid State Hybrid Drives 
Higher productivity – less wait time
Up to 50% faster boot-up speed*
Twice the overall performance*
Seagate® 5-year Limited Warranty

3 GBS SATA

After I asked for further clarification: 

"Which model is newer? From your information plus what I found on your website, these two drives appear to be the same except possibly for the 3 GBS vs. 6 GBS transfer rate.

Is that the only difference?

Which drive is 3 GBS and which drive is 6 GBS?

He replied:

"Yes that is only difference. Newer production run with a faster SATA speed."

[lchutton]

BUY THE LEAST EXPENSIVE ONE YOU CAN FIND!

After watching the price go up from around $139 to $159 or so, I finally purchased the model STAN500100 (at least that's what was on the box).  I installed it in my circa 2007-2008 Macbook Pro, and fortunately, it started up.  When I went to the System Configuration Manager and looked at the info about the startup drive, it listed the model as "ST95005620AS."

Surprised?

.

[WiseDrive]

One is the retail package the other is the OEM drive.

[lchutton]

WiseDrive,

Perhaps you are correct now, but over the last year both models were available online and at stores, sometimes with a $40 price difference at the same store.  That's why we were trying to determine if there were any differences.  Not only did the other posters and I get conflicting information, we could not even confirm which model number is the newer one.

Also, back when this thread was active, Seagate offered only the 500 GB version of the Hybrid drive.  I see they now offer 320 and 750 GB versions.