The hybrid drive I mocked in 2012 is now the only thing keeping my old laptop alive

I used to trash Seagate's Momentus hybrid drives back when they cost $130 for a 500GB model. Called them a gimmick, said the SSD cache was too small to matter. But last month I dug out my 2009 ThinkPad and the original 7200rpm drive took 4 minutes to boot Windows 7. Slapped in a used hybrid from eBay for $18 and it boots in 45 seconds, plus the spinning part still holds my music library. Is it real tech or just a band-aid for ancient hardware? Curious if anyone else had a similar flip on a 'dead' storage concept, or if I just got lucky with a drive that didn't die on day three.

2 comments

2 Comments

theagarcia13d ago

My 2011 MacBook Pro had the same problem, the hybrid drive from a dead iMac took it from a 6 minute boot to under a minute and it's been solid for 2 years now.

parkerb7512d ago

Wait until that hybrid drive dies on you, @theagarcia. Two years is nothing, I've seen those things crap out way faster than people expect.