mSata SSD plus what?

I currently have a 128gb mSata SSD and a 320gb 7200rpm HD in my Thinkpad X220 and am thinking of getting a larger HD. The SSD has the operating system and all programs and the HD has data files, including music, video and photos. The HD slot is Sata III.

What hard drive would you recommend? Is the speed of the HD likely to matter much? Any advantage to the Momentus 750gb hybrid?

 

I would not spend the additional money for the Momentus, if you have an SSD as the main drive already, just get a drive that will have enough capacity for you. There will be very little benefit to storing large files and rarely accessed data on a Momentus.

 

I'd think caching would help only for accessing frequently accessed files and that large data files are not likely to fall into that category.

On the other hand, faster access could help, so 7200rpm would be faster than 5400rpm. Or is even that unlikely to matter?

 

For pure storage like music, videos, i would go with 5400rpm drive, it should be quieter, consume less energy, maybe something like

SAMSUNG Spinpoint M8 HN-M101MBB 1TB 5400 RPM 8MB Cache 2.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Internal Notebook Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Western Digital 1 TB Scorpio Blue SATA II 5400 RPM 8 MB Cache 2.5-Inch Bulk/OEM Notebook Hard Drive - WD10JPVT

Just crosscheck that X220 fits standard 2.5 hdds (9.5), some small notebooks use slim hdds that will not allow you to install the above.

 

The 1TB 5400rpm drives may be faster than the smaller 7200rpm drives. Who Sells The Fastest High-Capacity 2.5" Hard Drive? : Six 2.5? High-Capacity Notebook Hard Drives

The Samsung has a lot of reviews on newegg complaining the drive died.

The X220 uses slim drives, but one newegg reviewer says the Samsung can work.

 

Well you have 3 options,

1) Hack it to install the 1tb samsung/wd, as the newegg reviewer posts,

I would check also NBR Lenovo section to see if this is viable or safe, maybe they have a better solution.

2) SSDs like Intel 320 have a 600GB version for $1k, this drives have an spacer if you remove it should be 7mm.

3) If you were to accept less space,
HITACHI Travelstar Z5K500 HTS545050A7E380 (0J11285) 500GB 5400 RPM 8MB Cache 2.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Internal Notebook Hard Drive -Bare Drive $99.99 (minus $30 of cupon).