Seagate outs second-gen Momentus XT: a 750GB hybrid laptop drive for $189 (update: actually $245)
Seagate was quick to jump into the hybrid HDD/SSD fray last year, with the decently priced and capable Momentus XT. Now we have a successor with identical branding, but with the HDD upped to 742GB, NAND storage slightly increased to 8GB, plus a faster SATA III 6Gb/s interface. The 'flash-assisted drive' promises to cut boot-up and lag times compared to a standard laptop hard disk, by gradually learning which of your files are popular enough to deserve a spot in that solid state VIP lounge. We're looking at a price of $189 $245, including a five-year warranty, and availability from today. Read on the full PR.
Update: The press release sent to us stated $189, but the one that's now live on Seagate's site (at the source link) says $245, so we're switching to that. Thanks to everyone who spotted this.
Show full PR text
SEAGATE SOUPS UP LAPTOP PC PERFORMANCE WITH FAST SOLID STATE HYBRID DRIVE
Cupertino, Calif. - November 29, 2011 - Tip for revving up the speed of your laptop PC: Slip in a new Seagate (NASDAQ:STX) Momentus XT drive for faster computing, snappier gaming and lickety-split boot-up!
Seagate is now shipping the second generation of Momentus XT, its groundbreaking solid state hybrid drive for consumer and commercial laptop personal computers. With a simple drive installation, users can boost boot-up speed and overall performance to transform the use of an ordinary laptop or desktop computer into a high-performance computing experience. Momentus XT is available at online retailers Amazon, Canada Computers, CDW, Memory Systems, NCIX, Newegg, and TigerDirect, and seven original equipment manufacturers are gearing up to ship laptops powered by Seagate's fastest laptop drive ever.
"Personal computer users are creating and using more documents, photos, video and other digital content than ever before, driving strong demand for systems that deliver the highest performance they can get their hands on," said Scott Horn, vice president of worldwide marketing at Seagate."Seagate's second-generation Momentus XT is serving up solid state drive (SSD) speed, more storage capacity and simple, easy installation at an affordable price for even better, faster computing."
"High-speed storage devices make a difference when it comes to improving overall PC performance," said John Rydning, research vice president at IDC. "Seagate's newest Momentus XT gives notebook PC users an economical option for boosting PC performance while at the same time providing spacious storage capacity all in one device."
The Momentus XT drive is three times faster than a traditional hard disk drive, delivering speeds rivaling much pricier SSDs. The all-in-one design of Momentus XT makes installation for system upgrades simple, easy and affordable: the drive works in any laptop or desktop computer and with any operating system.
Momentus XT – Satisfying the need for speed
The Momentus XT hard drive delivers a massive 750GB of storage capacity and owes it speed to a Serial ATA 6Gb/second interface, 8 gigabytes of high-speed Single Level Cell NAND flash, 32 megabytes of drive-level caching and Seagate's Adaptive Memory and FAST Factor technologies. Adaptive Memory works by identifying data usage patterns, and then moving the most frequently retrieved information to the embedded solid state memory for faster access – effectively tailoring hard drive performance to each user and their applications. FAST Factor blends the strengths of SSDs and hard disk drives into a powerful device for faster access to applications, quicker bootup and higher overall system speed.
Now shipping in volume worldwide, the Momentus XT hard drive is backed by Seagate's 5-year limited warranty. Manufacturer's Suggesting Retail Pricing (MSRP) for Momentus XT 750GB is $189 $245.
