Hello everyone,

My Macbook Unibody (late 2008) HDD was getting full, so i started to search for new one with at least 500go capacity.
The original HDD is a FUJITSU MHZ2160BH FFS G1 Media and it is completely silent. Even in a very quiet environment i can't hear it.
I have to put my ear on the computer to hear it - the same apply if i put it in a external case.

So i did some research and tried the Hitachi Travelstar 7k500 (7200tr/min - 500go).
I was expecting it to be a little noisier than my 5400tr/min and it was really noisier.
I could hear a low kind of fan noise from 2 meter away. Pressing the computer where the HDD is would make it quieter
but that's obviously not practical.
Then i tried the Samsung Spinpoint M8 1to. I read a german review with noise test saying that it was the quietest drive around. But i was extremely disappointed. Unless i had a bad drive, i can say it is not a quiet drive - not quieter than the Hitachi.
I got really frustrated so i bought a crucial M4 64go. Probably the best upgrade ever.
The responsiveness of my macbook is incredible.
I will use the SSD for the system and put the 160go drive for storage in place of the dvd drive (the opposite would be better apparently).
But obviously it does not really resolve for long my storage capacity problem.
So i'm looking for an extremely quiet 2.5" (9,5mm) 500go or more drive - 320go would be alright also.

Thanks in advance for your help !

The 250G 5K500.B is very quiet. I bought a bunch of them. SPCR reviewed the 500G version and found it pretty good as well. But these models are old.

You may want to give the newest single-platter Hitachi a try: the 500G Z5K500. I have no idea about the noise but it's hopefully similar to the older single-platters I've got (see above) and it'll give you the highest streaming performance a 5400rpm 2.5'' drive can have today.

I bought a hitachi 5k750 for my i3 2100t build, and its quiet (not silent), but it did some weird noise, like when it was 1/4 full, some almost like beeps, more like the seeking of old raptors but very anyoing, so much that i couldnt stand it, and bought another 5k500b, this drives in my experience are the best (havent tried the 320 or 250gb), they are not silent, but quiet enough that doesnt bother me, i can still hear them but its very faint, SPCR review them, and came well regarded. Again they are not silent, there are no mechanical drives that are, but this imo are the best, i now own 4 of them, 1 in i3 2100t, 2 on my media streamer and a new one that ill isntall on my server soon. The 5k750 was moved to an external enclosure where it works great, no more wierd sounds, and its a little faster than the 5k500b.

Thanks a lot guys.

Yes, the 5k500 seems quiet.
I read the review but got confused as i always heard that the Seagate 7200.4 500go was quite loud,
even though it is apparently really close to the Hitachi.
Also i heard many complaints about the Momentus XT but the spcr review says otherwise.
One difference : the vibration is 8 for the Hitachi and 7 for the Seagates.
Do you think it makes a big difference, especially in a notebook ?

The Z5K500 seems really nice : single platter, very low power.
@hfat Where did you read that it had the highest streaming performance a 5400rpm 2.5'' drive can have today ?
In this review http://www.storagereview.com/hitachi_travelstar_z5k500_review_hts545050a7e380
it seems to perform quite poorly.

I too am looking for a quiet recent 2.5" drive. Preferably with good capacity, performance, and price. Is there such a thing?

I doubt it.

I'm just looking for a quiet 2.5 drive that doesn't suck.

The comments about the Hitachi 7K500 are a little shocking. Everyone seems to say how quiet that drive is.

I may try the Samsung 500gb M8 Spinpoint. Unlike the 1tb version, it's 1 platter. Hopefully, it's quieter.

Does anyone else have any ideas or have any knowledge on quiet 2.5 drives?

I tried the 7k500 and it is actually not bad but still noisier than my Fujitsu,
mainly because of vibration i think.
Pressing or putting an heavy object where the hard drive is installed in the Macbook made it nearly silent.
But obviously that's not really practical !
It is really a shame because this drive has not only more capacity but is also much faster.

Exactly what I want too

An SSD would have the silence and good performance, but bad price and capacity.

It doesn't really need to be silent either, just not annoying.

I already tried lots of 7200rpm drives (among the latest: Scorpio Black, 7K500 EA, Momentus 7200.4, Momentus 750GB) and no one can be really comparable to a good 5400rpm drive, noise-wise. Even enclosing in an SQD, even suspended. IMO.

One option could be the latest Scorpio Blue, the 1TB WD10JPVT, it should have an enough high surface density in order to a more acceptable performance.

I love the Hitachi 5K500 drives. I bought a buttload of them. I use them as my primary drives in all 5 of my Thinkpads, and have another 4 that I use as external backup drives in the removable optical disc trays.

I already have a 5K500, and no problems with it... But now they are old, hard to obtain, and/or very expensive.
Surely people must have bought more recent drives? Any others to avoid? Or is the problem that they are all to avoid and there isn't any good recent ones?

I think the main problem is the lack of competition. Seagate has bought Samsung and WD has bought Hitachi. So the two companies who have been bought out are probably not doing any more research and development. And those are the two using 500GB platters for 2.5" notebook drives.

I bought a Samsung M8 500GB 2.5" HD (1x 500GB platter) before the flooding raised prices. I have not put it in to use yet so I can't give any feedback on it. I was also planning on getting a Hitachi Z5K500 also (1x 500GB platter), but prices on that have risen as well.

Seagate and WD seems to be using older 250/320GB platters in their drives, and will only use denser platter in their high capacity drives (750GB/1TB).