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(More customer reviews)I bought the WD5000BEKT hard drive (HD) as a replacement when the Seagate Momentus 7200.3 320GB 7200RPM HD failed in my Dell M1330 notebook PC 5 weeks ago. I spent 2-3 weeks reading and researching several HDs and soliciting opinions of friends and PC forum members. In fact, I initially ordered the Hitachi Travelstar 0S02858 HD (essentially the better-known Travelstar 7K500 w/different packaging and labeling) due to several strong recommendations, but soon afterwards, I discovered that the WD5000BEKT had stronger professional reviews at StorageReview.com and PCWorld. In particular, StorageReview.com anointed it as the best overall conventional notebook PC HD, succeeding its stablemate the WD3200BEKT 320GB 7200RPM HD, and after comparing it to the Hitachi Travelstar 7K500, Seagate Momentus XT 500GB hybrid HD, Seagate Momentus 7200.4 500GB HD, and WD3200BEKT. Buyer reviews on Newegg and Amazon for the WD5000BEKT had notably fewer negatives than the Hitachi and Seagate HDs, and overall seemed more enthusiastic, and as a whole suggested the WD5000BEKT is significantly more reliable (much fewer DOA's and early failures reported). The latter is seemingly underscored by the Western Digital (WD) 5-year warranty; virtually all other manufacturers warrantee their HDs for 3 years (the only other exception I know of is the Seagate Momentus XT hybrid HD, which also has a 5-year warranty).
After carefully reviewing the information above, I ordered the WD5000BEKT from Amazon and am in the process of returning the Hitachi Travelstar 0S02858 HD to Amazon. I had the WD5000BEKT installed in my Dell M1330 notebook PC 10 days ago and have been pleased with it. It is working flawlessly to date and its speed seems comparable to the Seagate Momentus 7200.3, which I was pleased with before it failed. The WD5000BEKT has an audible but low-level hum that I find non-intrusive and not bothersome at all. The noise is audible to me only if the room is quiet and free of other human and appliance activity. However, several users on the Notebook Review forum site have noted its noise level is high enough they would select another HD, such as the Hitaci 7K500, given a chance to redo the process. Several buyer reviews on Amazon and Newegg have characterized the WD 5000BEKT as quiet, indicating the perception of noise from the WD5000BEKT (and other HDs) is very subjective. After installing the HD, I ran WD's Lifeguard diagnostic test (WD's version of the SMART test for HDs) on it. It showed no bad sectors and that the HD was performing flawlessly. (The Lifeguard diagnostic test can be easily downloaded from the WD site and used to test all WD internal and external HDs installed on the given PC.) Although I haven't needed to do so yet, returning WD HDs under warranty seems to be a trouble-free process, based on WD website information. The Lifeguard application also detects the serial numbers of installed WD HDs, which are needed to register the HD with WD. Once registered, obtaining warranty service seems easy and is accomplished on the WD site.
Incredibly, the OEM HD on my back-up notebook PC (also a Dell M1330) failed two weeks after my main PC HD. I was pleased enough with the WD5000BEKT I ordered a 2nd example to install in my back-up PC. [I ordered the 2nd one from Newegg as they fortuitously had a special discounted price for it that ended on the same day.] I installed it 2 days ago and it's performing like the first WD5000BEKT. I also ran the WD Lifeguard diagnostic on the 2nd HD and it passed.
At this point, I unreservedly recommend the WD5000BEKT for anyone needing--or just wanting--a high-performance 500GB notebook PC conventional HD. Its price is 40-45% less--depending on the presence or absence of sales discounts for either or both HD--than the Seagate XT hybrid, which admittedly has superior performance due to the unique solid state and conventional HD fusion, and is comparable to other 500GB 7200RPM conventional HDs at regular retail and some sales prices or sometimes $5-$10 more when comparing other sales prices. I can provide data about its reliability and durability when my WD5000BEKT is 2-3 years old and will try to remember to do so, provided this HD is still available at most dealers at that time.
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