HGST Travelstar Z7K500 HTS725050A7E630 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 2.5" Internal Notebook Hard Drive

Pros: Very thin
7200 RPM
32MB Cache
SATA III
Price!

I was going to order the tried and true WD Black 7200rpm drives. Then I noticed these were $10 less, had 24MB extra cache, and they are made by a company owned by WD.

I ordered three of them as I replace a lot of drives. All three were manufactured less than two months ago! Have installed two so far and its been a painless process cloning with Acronis 2013

Very quite, keeps cool, almost no vibrations.

Cons: I have not done much research into Advanced Format drives. I only know that they can have compatibility issues from time to time. Did not read enough to know these are AF drives. Though I have had no problems installing in older computers.

Other Thoughts: Two of the three drives tested, and no problems. I would highly recommend these drives if you need space and an SSD wouldn't work.

Pros: Fast when it works.

Cons: I bought this drive last year and was quite happy with it. Until it just failed after 7 months. RMA with Hitachi was pretty good and they sent me a new one. Now the replacement drive just failed again after 4 months! I have bought nothing but Hitachi drives for my laptops and I currently have 5 of them still working even after 3 years. What happened since then??? I used to love Hitachi drives but I don't trust them anymore specially since I lost some data with this most recent crash.

Pros: The 32 MB cache on this 500 GB 2.5 HDD is a definite plus!

Cons: None so far.

Other Thoughts: I bought this to upgrade my 20 GB PS3 HDD.
Works so far in the PS3.

Pros: Good price point.
Fast drive for the price point.
Fast shipping

Cons: Ran hot due to high RPM, but that´s to be expected with a higher RPM drive. However that should not cause it to failed after 2 weeks of very light use. I powered down the computer one night and when I powered it on the next morning the boot sector was nowhere to be found.

Pros: Purchased first from from newegg about a year ago, and have it installed on an Aspire laptop running Vista, and using almost 92 GB of space. Second one I just purchased from local retailer for about the same $$$$ as newegg. Longevity & reliability is to be seen. Three year warranty on both drives is a PLUS! Hopefully drives will outlast warranty.

Cons: none to speak of!

Pros: Easy to install.

Cons: Price.

Other Thoughts: Used this as a data drive in my girlfriends laptop for backups and music. Thanks newegg you guys rock !

Pros: This was a fairly cheap priced 500 GB laptop drive but had a no so good rating. I decided I was not going to pay a lot for a hard drive for my old T-60 and this drive seems to perform pretty good and a lot faster than the original drive. Fixed the segmentation fault I was having.

Cons: None so far. I see one reviewer said his developed a clicking sound. Time will tell.

Other Thoughts: I'm not going to pay too much to upgrade and fix this laptop, no way no how ;)

Pros: Purchased this drive on 6/06/2012 and have not had any problems! Have drive installed on an Acer Aspire laptop (Aspire 3680-2022) purchased in Spring of 2007. Have about 88 gb of space used running 32-bit Vista Home Basic. Paid $69.99 for drive. Would not pay that for a hdd again, regardless of brand!

Cons: I do hear disk activity, but no big deal.

Pros: Cheap Hybrid SSD, easy to install

Cons: Doesn't really act like a SSD as described and 500gb seems to fill up fast resulting in a slower response time as well. Appearently this HD doesn't work on some laptops but my Sony Vaio built in 12/12 took it nicely so do your research on compatibility before buying.

Other Thoughts: I bought this as a replacement for my old HD and although it may run a little faster I notice very little difference then my old 7200rpm. Due to other reviews I have read about this HD failing I'm concerned that will happen so my advice to anyone really who buys any HD is backup everything on a regular basis just in case... just sayin :)

Pros: Model Number Matches - But See Below - Regarding 500 GB Disks in lienware - M17X R4

Cons: The Alienware - M17X R4 Laptop - ships with a version of the HGST
HTS725050a7E630 ( ZK500 ) 500 GB disk.

But they have differences. The New Egg disk sold here bears the Hitatchi brand name and was manufactured well over one year ago. No firmware update offered by HGST to consumers.

The New Egg disk is also sold as being a SATA 3 ( III ) 6 GbS disk, the much newer HGST disk in the Alienware is labeled as SATA 2 ( II ) 3 GbS.

The Alienware HGST disk with the same model number was manuractured in 2013 ( March ) the New Egg picture shows a manufacture date of more than a year newer.

If you are buying the disk as a clone for the Alienware disk - buyer beware.

Other Thoughts: I was aware of this and took a chance - will post another review later to report the results of that gamble.