# Seagate 1TB drive on sale at Best Buy (online only)



## HerronScott (Jan 1, 2002)

All,

Best Buy has the Seagate ST310005N1A1AS-RK on sale (online only) for $189.99 with free shipping. Currently showing as backordered ("usually leaves warehouse 1-2 weeks). http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8490625&type=product&id=1186003683968

I believe others have reported this as a noisy drive when compared to the other 1TB drives out there but thought I'd report it as a good price.

Scott


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## Joybob (Oct 2, 2007)

HerronScott said:


> All,
> 
> Best Buy has the Seagate ST310005N1A1AS-RK on sale (online only) for $189.99 with free shipping. Currently showing as backordered ("usually leaves warehouse 1-2 weeks). http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8490625&type=product&id=1186003683968
> 
> ...


I've gotten two of these and only one of them allowed me to change the AAM.

Inside the Tivo or a good enclosure like MX-1, you won't be able to hear it.

Pulls a lot more wattage than the green drive; hence more heat.


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## oo7plyr (Jul 11, 2007)

Is anyone using this as an external drive? I'm considering it.


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## Da Goon (Oct 22, 2006)

These are available in-store also, picked one up today.

The shelf labeled $189.99 was empty, but directly across from it were several of the same drives, but labeled at $329.99. As I was comparing serial numbers a young girl came by and started moving them over to the $189 shelf.


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## drewpydog (Jan 10, 2005)

Got one of these with a 10% off coupon. Threw it in the THD easily with WinMFS. It is louder, noticeably so, than the stock drive. But I will put up with it for 1TB of storage.


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## oo7plyr (Jul 11, 2007)

I stuck it in an MX-1 for my S3. It truly whispers ... all I here in the room is the TiVo ... mmm... 165 hours of HD. Very pleased with this deal. I had to go to 2 BBs to get one, though. Word is getting out.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

I think the Seagates are way too loud for the TiVo. I think it's too loud for my PC too. I'm going to Ebay the one I just put in a PC. It's even noiser than the Raptor drives I have.
I'm sticking with the Western Digital and Hitachi drives from now on.


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## richsadams (Jan 4, 2003)

Joybob said:


> I've gotten two of these and only one of them allowed me to change the AAM.


 It's a well known fact that AAM cannot be adjusted on Seagate hard drives, any of them. You've made the claim of having changed the AAM on a Seagate drive previously. You were asked then to back up that claim with some facts and never answered.

Would you care to enlighten us as to how you accomplished something that no one else on this planet (outside of a Seagate technician) has been able to do? Just how did you personally go about adjusting the AAM on your Seagate drive? Can you give us the exact drive model number and the hardware and software that you used? That would be very valuable information.

If you misspoke, that's okay...we all make mistakes. 

TIA!


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## nrnoble (Aug 25, 2004)

What is AAM, and why is important as it related to TiVO HDD drives?

Thx


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## RonDawg (Jan 12, 2006)

AAM is a method to adjust the "noisiness" of a hard drive. Some newer drives have this feature, others don't. Generally speaking, hard drive performance suffers when you use this, so that's why it's adjustable.

It's especially important for a TiVo, particularly one in a bedroom, as its hard drive is *always* reading and writing. Unless you like listening to the constant sound of marbles being crushed


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## RonDawg (Jan 12, 2006)

richsadams said:


> It's a well known fact that AAM cannot be adjusted on Seagate hard drives, any of them. You've made the claim of having changed the AAM on a Seagate drive previously. You were asked then to back up that claim with some facts and never answered.
> 
> Would you care to enlighten us as to how you accomplished something that no one else on this planet (outside of a Seagate technician) has been able to do? Just how did you personally go about adjusting the AAM on your Seagate drive? Can you give us the exact drive model number and the hardware and software that you used? That would be very valuable information.


Actually Rich, I recently installed a new Seagate internal SATA drive in my Dell computer. I remember somewhere in the BIOS I had the ability to set the acoustics. I set it to "maximum performance". Of course now every time I get a hard drive seek I get that crushing marbles sound I mentioned above 

I don't have the model number handy as I'm at work, but it is a Seagate 500 GB SATA that was recently on sale at Circuit City. It comes in their new style packaging which is white with yellow accents.


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## richsadams (Jan 4, 2003)

RonDawg said:


> Actually Rich, I recently installed a new Seagate internal SATA drive in my Dell computer. I remember somewhere in the BIOS I had the ability to set the acoustics. I set it to "maximum performance". Of course now every time I get a hard drive seek I get that crushing marbles sound I mentioned above
> 
> I don't have the model number handy as I'm at work, but it is a Seagate 500 GB SATA that was recently on sale at Circuit City. It comes in their new style packaging which is white with yellow accents.


You are correct sir. You can set the on-board acoustics through your BIOS, however that doesn't actually adjust the AAM on the drive itself but the performance (seek times, error correction, etc.). Permanently setting the actual AAM using a program like the Hitachi Feature tool can be accomplished with WD, Hitachi and other drives...almost all _except _Seagate.

Of course once the Seagate drive is removed from your PC (and installed in TiVo or elsewhere) its performance will be based on the it's own firmware instruction set. Crushing marbles?  Ouch!

I upgraded our Series3's internal drive a while back and removed the Seagate DB35/MX-1 eSATA drive. I placed the DB35 in my PC, replacing an older Seagate drive. I used to be able to tell when the drive was functioning by the noise it made. The DB35 is almost completely silent...now I have to look at the activity light to tell if it's doing anything.  I was concerned about the lower error correction of the DB35 but so far even under heavy video editing it performs like a champ...I just can't tell when.


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## richsadams (Jan 4, 2003)

HerronScott said:


> All,
> 
> Best Buy has the Seagate ST310005N1A1AS-RK on sale (online only) for $189.99 with free shipping. Currently showing as backordered ("usually leaves warehouse 1-2 weeks). http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8490625&type=product&id=1186003683968
> 
> ...


If you can't find it at BB, Fry's has it on sale for $199...but lists it as a "special order, 1 per household".

It's worth noting that on the Fry's site they list the acoustics of the Seagate drive at 2.5 bels (although they don't mention if that's at idle or seek). If that's true, it would be a very quiet drive. WD's new AV GP dvr dedicated drive's seek noise is also listed at 2.5 bels and they are some of the quietest on the market. To compare...

10dBA - Normal Breathing
20dBA - Mosquito or Rustling Leaves
30dBA - A Whisper
40dBA - A Bubbling Brook, or a Refridgerator
50dBA - Normal Conversation
60dBA - Laughter
70dBA - Vacuum Cleaner or Hairdryer
80dBA - City Traffic or a Garbage Disposal
90dBA - Motorcycle or Lawnmower
150dBA - My neighbor's dog at 3 a.m. (I'm sure of it!) 

I'm a long-time Seagate man but went with the WD GP drive because Seagate didn't have a 1TB equivalent at the time (last September). Thanks for finding this Scott as well as your feedback drewpy and 007 (although your comments on the drive's acoustics are a bit at odds). I'd be interested in hearing about the experience from anyone else using the new Seagate drive. :up:


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## RonDawg (Jan 12, 2006)

richsadams said:


> Crushing marbles?  Ouch!


Yeah I was kind of alarmed by how much louder the Seagate was vs. the original WD (which I still have). However it's worked flawlessly for weeks now so I guess it's not doing any harm. My bedroom TiVo has a DB 35 in it so I know how quiet a hard drive can be.

One of these days I might change the BIOS settings towards "minimum noise" to see how much performance is actually affected. I don't use this particular computer that much anyway as it's primarily for video editing and for maintaining my music and photo files, with my laptop taking up the bulk of my computing activities. However I could never imagine this drive being used in a TiVo, especially one in a bedroom


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## richsadams (Jan 4, 2003)

RonDawg said:


> Yeah I was kind of alarmed by how much louder the Seagate was vs. the original WD (which I still have). However it's worked flawlessly for weeks now so I guess it's not doing any harm. My bedroom TiVo has a DB 35 in it so I know how quiet a hard drive can be.
> 
> One of these days I might change the BIOS settings towards "minimum noise" to see how much performance is actually affected. I don't use this particular computer that much anyway as it's primarily for video editing and for maintaining my music and photo files, with my laptop taking up the bulk of my computing activities. However I could never imagine this drive being used in a TiVo, especially one in a bedroom


Agreed, a loud drive in a TiVo would be beyond annoying. It sounds like this new 1TB Seagate drive may be much quieter than the standard ones we're used to though.

IMHO today's drives are much "higher end" than those from only a couple of years ago performance-wise. They have to be up to the enormous task of running in massive server arrays that require extreme/high-end data processing 24/7. When it comes to our humble PC's, unless you're doing very intense, extended math calculations or the like, setting performance levels at minimum should be fine. In my case with video processing being the most demanding, I'll see my CPU, memory or video card choke before my hard drive is ever taxed to the limit.


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## cdeckert219 (Jan 7, 2006)

richsadams said:


> I'd be interested in hearing about the experience from anyone else using the new Seagate drive. :up:


I now have a working drive for my 2nd Woot special (TiVoHD)--the Seagate ST310005N1A1AS-RK. The HD is replacing the S2 I had in the bedroom. The new unit and drive are MUCH quieter than what I had. If I listen for it, I can _barely_ hear it working--definitely not the chatter of the old S2. My wife is unable to hear the new one and is very pleased. I think the S2 has a plain 300GB Maxtor in it...which would explain the loud chatter.

In the family room my TiVoHD has a Maxtor with nearly the same model number--STM310005N1AAAS-RK. I wonder if it's basically the same drive? Sitting on the couch, we are unable to hear that unit at all.


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## richsadams (Jan 4, 2003)

cdeckert219 said:


> I now have a working drive for my 2nd Woot special (TiVoHD)--the Seagate ST310005N1A1AS-RK. The HD is replacing the S2 I had in the bedroom. The new unit and drive are MUCH quieter than what I had. If I listen for it, I can _barely_ hear it working--definitely not the chatter of the old S2. My wife is unable to hear the new one and is very pleased. I think the S2 has a plain 300GB Maxtor in it...which would explain the loud chatter.
> 
> In the family room my TiVoHD has a Maxtor with nearly the same model number--STM310005N1AAAS-RK. I wonder if it's basically the same drive? Sitting on the couch, we are unable to hear that unit at all.


Excellent! Sounds like the new Seagate drive is going to work very well. I was considering putting my orphaned Seagate DB35 in my TiVo HD, but I may just opt for this new one and leave my poor PC alone. 

Seagate's "STM310005x" line covers a large variety of drives. (More here.) Maxtor's still terrify me  so hopefully this is Seagate's technology and not something they picked up along the way.

Thanks for that. :up:


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## DallasFlier (Jan 23, 2003)

richsadams said:


> If you can't find it at BB, Fry's has it on sale for $199...but lists it as a "special order, 1 per household".
> 
> It's worth noting that on the Fry's site they list the acoustics of the Seagate drive at 2.5 bels (although they don't mention if that's at idle or seek). If that's true, it would be a very quiet drive. WD's new AV GP dvr dedicated drive's seek noise is also listed at 2.5 bels and they are some of the quietest on the market.


I'm thinking Fry's isn't correct on those acoustic specs on the site. The Seagate part number in this thread is for the retail boxed unit, and its not totally clear what drive is in it. But there are only two possibilities, the (mainstream desktop) Barracuda 7200.11 or the ("High-capacity business-critical enterprise drives") Barracuda ES.2 and I really doubt the retail boxed unit contains the ES.2. The Seagate site lists the acoustics for the 7200.11 at 8 bels at idle, and even the ES.2 is listed at 2.7 bels at idle, not 2.5.

Also very important in the Tivo application, I think, is the power consumption, and the resulting heat generation of the drive. The 7200.11 lists typical operating power at 12 W "operating average" while the 2.5 bel WD AV-GP drive you refer to (I just bought one this week from Buy.com for $211 shipped) is 7.4 W.


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## DallasFlier (Jan 23, 2003)

richsadams said:


> Seagate's "STM310005x" line covers a large variety of drives. (More here.) Maxtor's still terrify me  so hopefully this is Seagate's technology and not something they picked up along the way.


From the link you reference above:

ST = Seagate

STM = Maxtor


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## richsadams (Jan 4, 2003)

DallasFlier said:


> I'm thinking Fry's isn't correct on those acoustic specs on the site. The Seagate part number in this thread is for the retail boxed unit, and its not totally clear what drive is in it. But there are only two possibilities, the (mainstream desktop) Barracuda 7200.11 or the ("High-capacity business-critical enterprise drives") Barracuda ES.2 and I really doubt the retail boxed unit contains the ES.2. The Seagate site lists the acoustics for the 7200.11 at 8 bels at idle, and even the ES.2 is listed at 2.7 bels at idle, not 2.5.
> 
> Also very important in the Tivo application, I think, is the power consumption, and the resulting heat generation of the drive. The 7200.11 lists typical operating power at 12 W "operating average" while the 2.5 bel WD AV-GP drive you refer to (I just bought one this week from Buy.com for $211 shipped) is 7.4 W.


Agreed with regard to the heat issue. Perhaps some that are using the new Seagate drive can take a look at their temp and chime in? We have the same WD GP drive in our Series3 and it runs about 48c in an enclosed entertainment unit w/o any additional ventilation other than the normal holes for cables, etc.

However according to a couple of earlier posts, including one today from cdeckert219, the drive is "much quieter" than the stock TiVo drive.



DallasFlier said:


> From the link you reference above:
> 
> ST = Seagate
> 
> STM = Maxtor


Yikes! Well...we'll see how it goes.


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## DaveDFW (Jan 25, 2005)

Buying either the ST310005N1A1AS-RK or the ST31000340AS will get you the same exact drive. The only difference is that the RK part number ("retail kit") is boxed with cables, documentation, and such.

I use two of these drives with one of my S3s--one internal, and one external in an MX-1. My other S3 is unmodified with the original 250gb drive. 

Both of my Tivos live in enclosed cabinets, I just checked the temperature reported:

2tb S3 with 7200.11 -- 48C
Stock S3 with 250gb -- 50C

So in my case, the Seagate drive is cooler than the original drive. So I don't think the higher wattage consumed translates into a higher heat dissipation.

But I wouldn't go so far as to say they're silent--I can hear the MX-1 mounted drive from about 5 feet away, though I can't hear the Seagate that's internal to the Tivo.

That said, I'm not so sure I'd pick this drive for a Tivo going in a bedroom, where drive noise could interrupt my sleep.

TTYL
David


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## lew (Mar 12, 2002)

I think acoustic management is over-rated. Might be important in a bedroom but the volume of a TV set is more then enough to "drown it out". Sometimes the sound of a TV sets fan is enough. If the price is right I wouldn't hesitate to use a Seagate drive in a typical TV den.

I wouldn't generalize about Seagate drives. The acoustic mode could be set with older drives, probably none of the serial ATA drives. With all the mergers it's possible Seagate will allow acoustic settings in future releases. My understanding is there was some issue with patents.


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## richsadams (Jan 4, 2003)

DaveDFW said:


> Buying either the ST310005N1A1AS-RK or the ST31000340AS will get you the same exact drive. The only difference is that the RK part number ("retail kit") is boxed with cables, documentation, and such.
> 
> I use two of these drives with one of my S3s--one internal, and one external in an MX-1. My other S3 is unmodified with the original 250gb drive.
> 
> ...


Good info. Thanks for that! :up:


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## richsadams (Jan 4, 2003)

lew said:


> I think acoustic management is over-rated. Might be important in a bedroom but the volume of a TV set is more then enough to "drown it out". Sometimes the sound of a TV sets fan is enough. If the price is right I wouldn't hesitate to use a Seagate drive in a typical TV den.
> 
> I wouldn't generalize about Seagate drives. The acoustic mode could be set with older drives, probably none of the serial ATA drives. With all the mergers it's possible Seagate will allow acoustic settings in future releases. My understanding is there was some issue with patents.


Agreed with the sound issues. Although I don't see the patent issue going away as it's still Seagate and no longer Maxtor...but you never know.


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## drewpydog (Jan 10, 2005)

Here's the link to the manual for the drive:

http://www.seagate.com/staticfiles/support/disc/manuals/desktop/Barracuda 7200.11/100452348c.pdf

Acoustics are on page 15 (2.9). Seagate claims 3.3 bels max sound. I still think the drive is louder than the 160GB Maxtor stock drive. I can hear high-pitched chirps and low-pitched grinds. It doesn't bother me that much; just an observation.

As far as heating, I put 2 heatsinks (that I had lying around) on the side of the new drive, just for fun. The temp now is 41C, whereas my nonmodded S3 is at 48C.


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## DallasFlier (Jan 23, 2003)

DaveDFW said:


> Buying either the ST310005N1A1AS-RK or the ST31000340AS will get you the same exact drive. The only difference is that the RK part number ("retail kit") is boxed with cables, documentation, and such.
> 
> I use two of these drives with one of my S3s--one internal, and one external in an MX-1. My other S3 is unmodified with the original 250gb drive.
> 
> ...


Good info, thanks! But... there's more difference in those two part numbers than the "RK" at the end, which is why I said I wasn't positive about the drive inside. The one you reference is the 7200.11, as I suspected.

And... the higher consumed wattage by definition translates into higher heat production - from both the drive itself and the power supply made to source the higher power! (Electrical engineer mode.)  How much difference it makes in the resultant internal temp depends on many factors, but I'll guarantee you its producing more heat.


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## ilh (Dec 21, 2007)

lew said:


> I think acoustic management is over-rated. Might be important in a bedroom but the volume of a TV set is more then enough to "drown it out". Sometimes the sound of a TV sets fan is enough. If the price is right I wouldn't hesitate to use a Seagate drive in a typical TV den.


I disagree. Yes, when the TV is on, but some of us use our living rooms for more than just TV. If I'm sitting reading a book, I don't want to hear hard drive chatter.


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## DallasFlier (Jan 23, 2003)

drewpydog said:


> Here's the link to the manual for the drive:
> 
> http://www.seagate.com/staticfiles/support/disc/manuals/desktop/Barracuda 7200.11/100452348c.pdf
> 
> ...


Interesting. You're right about that manual referencing 3.3 bels, but on the product web page they contradict themselves, saying under "Key Advantages" that it "Idles at only 8.0 Bels, enabling customers to build low-power systems" which not only is contradictory, but a confusing muddle of acoustic and power statements within a single phrase.

http://www.seagate.com/ww/v/index.jsp?locale=en-US&name=st31000340as-barracuda-7200-11-sata-1t-hd&vgnextoid=0732f141e7f43110VgnVCM100000f5ee0a0aRCRD&vgnextchannel=47f281f8c0f43110VgnVCM100000f5ee0a0aRCRD&reqPage=Model


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## DaveDFW (Jan 25, 2005)

DallasFlier said:


> Interesting. You're right about that manual referencing 3.3 bels, but on the product web page they contradict themselves, saying under "Key Advantages" that it "Idles at only 8.0 Bels, enabling customers to build low-power systems" which not only is contradictory, but a confusing muddle of acoustic and power statements within a single phrase.


It seems Seagate has a problem with getting their specs straight.

From the pdf a few posts back:

http://www.seagate.com/staticfiles/support/disc/manuals/desktop/Barracuda 7200.11/100452348c.pdf

It states the "performance seek" as "33 bels" on page 5 table 1. I'm supposing there's a decimal point missing, but that's just an assumption.

TTYL
David


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## DaveDFW (Jan 25, 2005)

DallasFlier said:


> Good info, thanks! But... there's more difference in those two part numbers than the "RK" at the end, which is why I said I wasn't positive about the drive inside. The one you reference is the 7200.11, as I suspected.


Sorry, I should have said that I have bought one of each--one as an OEM static-bagged drive with the ST31000340AS part number, and one retail kit ST310005N1A1AS-RK with a part number that obviously does not resemble the bare drive's number, with no external indication on the packaging what drive is actually inside.

Both drives are identical, except the RK drive had a newer firmware revision, but it was also bought 6 months later, so newer firmware is not unusual.



DallasFlier said:


> And... the higher consumed wattage by definition translates into higher heat production - from both the drive itself and the power supply made to source the higher power! (Electrical engineer mode.)  How much difference it makes in the resultant internal temp depends on many factors, but I'll guarantee you its producing more heat.


Yes, I wasn't quite thinking when I wrote that previously. I guess lots of things could be happening...


The wattage specs between the two manufacturers could be derived in different manners with different levels of accuracy
My two Tivos could naturally run at different temperatures regardless of the drive inside
Two different temperature sensors could be giving inconsistent readings
I have an unnaturally hot Western-Digital or unnaturally cool Seagate

Who knows where the truth is? I don't have any incentive to swap drives around to test all the possibilities.

Anecdotally, my Seagate reports cooler temperatures but I think it is too noisy for my bedroom. 

TTYL
David


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## lew (Mar 12, 2002)

ilh said:


> I disagree. Yes, when the TV is on, but some of us use our living rooms for more than just TV. If I'm sitting reading a book, I don't want to hear hard drive chatter.


It depnds on how far your chair is from the tivo. Do you listen to music when you read? What other background noise is in your house. Can you hear a dishwasher or washing machine from your living room? Does your TV set have a fan that runs even when your set is off? Noise from heating systems and/or air conditioning? Noise from a fan/ceiling fan? Other family members talking in the next room?

I agree *acoustic settings are an important consideration for some customers* but I think some people are getting the wrong idea about the amount of noise that you get from a "loud drive". There is more then enough background noise in my house so the additional noise from a "loud drive" is really a non-issue.


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## RonDawg (Jan 12, 2006)

lew said:


> It depnds on how far your chair is from the tivo. Do you listen to music when you read? What other background noise is in your house. Can you hear a dishwasher or washing machine from your living room? Does your TV set have a fan that runs even when your set is off? Noise from heating systems and/or air conditioning? Noise from a fan/ceiling fan? Other family members talking in the next room?
> 
> I agree *acoustic settings are an important consideration for some customers* but I think some people are getting the wrong idea about the amount of noise that you get from a "loud drive". There is more then enough background noise in my house so the additional noise from a "loud drive" is really a non-issue.


If you live in a noisy Manhattan apartment, or next to a busy Los Angeles freeway, then the noise from a TiVo wouldn't be an issue. Chances are you've tuned out the surrounding noise.

But not everybody lives in such noisy environments. And they shouldn't rely on other background noise to drown out a noisy TiVo.

I read somewhere that increased ambient noise levels do drive up a person's level of stress. Isn't our living rooms and media rooms the place where we go to escape stress, and not get into more?


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## RonDawg (Jan 12, 2006)

BTW, for those who are interested, the "marble crushing" Seagate drive I'm talking about has model number ST3500641AS-RK.


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## DaveDFW (Jan 25, 2005)

RonDawg said:


> BTW, for those who are interested, the "marble crushing" Seagate drive I'm talking about has model number ST3500641AS-RK.


If I'm reading the Seagate model numbers correctly, that one is 7200.9, which is two generations behind. Even the 7200.10 was pretty noisy.

The 7200.11 is the first Seagate that is relatively quiet.

TTYL
David


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## ilh (Dec 21, 2007)

I live in a quiet suburb and it can be very quiet at night. My 32XBR4 has no audible fan when on or off. I can hear a WD GP 1TB drive seek from 12ft away. The 160GB DB35 in the Verizon DVR drove me crazy. Maybe I'm cursed with seek sensitivity! I wish I didn't hear it.*

BTW, to those looking at manufacturer noise specifications: give it up. They seem to publish numbers that are not comparable across brands. Even if they use the same units (which they don't always: dB vs Bel) they may measure at different distances or use different frequency weighting. I strongly recommend looking at silentpcreview.com's hard drive reviews for more controlled noise measurements. In their reviews, if I recall, recent Seagates have been 3-5dB louder than their quietest drives, the WD GP drives.

--Lee

*My PC has a pair of 500GB GP drives with AAM enabled and mounted using elastic suspension, in a case with noise dampening material. Did I mention I hate seek noise?


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## DallasFlier (Jan 23, 2003)

DaveDFW said:


> *Anecdotally, my Seagate reports cooler temperatures* but I think it is too noisy for my bedroom.





DaveDFW said:


> It seems Seagate has a problem with getting their specs straight.


Ah, if its your Seagate doing the reporting, and it learned from the folks who wrote its spec pages, there you have it!


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## DallasFlier (Jan 23, 2003)

lew said:


> I agree *acoustic settings are an important consideration for some customers* but I think some people are getting the wrong idea about the amount of noise that you get from a "loud drive". There is more then enough background noise in my house so the additional noise from a "loud drive" is really a non-issue.


Nope, I don't think they're getting the wrong idea at all. My old Maxtor 250G in my DirecTivo was noticeably noisy in my home, even during quieter points in TV shows, let alone without the TV on - certainly way above ceiling fans or other background noise. Maybe your house is just noisy, or maybe you haven't really experienced a truly loud drive, but its certainly not a non-issue for many - and that's from first hand experience.

If the Seagate's or others were half the price, or even 75% of the price, then I'd understand some using them. But when the reported sale has the louder, more power-hungry drives for $189.99 (plus $15.67 tax for me, for a total of $205.66) and I just bought the WD GP for $211.84 delivered this week from Buy.com; I just don't get why you'd even consider messing with a louder, more power-hungry drive for a total savings of $6.18.


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## cdeckert219 (Jan 7, 2006)

richsadams said:


> Agreed with regard to the heat issue. Perhaps some that are using the new Seagate drive can take a look at their temp and chime in? We have the same WD GP drive in our Series3 and it runs about 48c in an enclosed entertainment unit w/o any additional ventilation other than the normal holes for cables, etc.
> 
> However according to a couple of earlier posts, including one today from cdeckert219, the drive is "much quieter" than the stock TiVo drive.
> 
> Yikes! Well...we'll see how it goes.


Sorry if I was misleading about the noise comparison. Clarification... the new Seagate drive is much quieter than the drive that I have in my S2. I upgraded both my S2 and my Humax DRT400 two years ago with Seagate 300GB ST3300831A-RK drives. Both boxes are annoyingly loud. The new TiVoHD with the 1TB Seagate is much quieter than the previously upgraded boxes.

Now, as to temperature. Here's what mine are running at:
TiVoHD w/1TB Maxtor... 47C (inside a stereo cabinet with little ventilation)
Humax DRT400 w/300GB Seagate... 37C (on top of the stereo cabinet)
TiVoHD w/1TB Seagate... 37C (in the open, sitting on top of the S2)
S2 w/300GB Seagate... 33C (in the open, sitting under the HD)

Hope that helps!

Chuck


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## richsadams (Jan 4, 2003)

Thanks for the clarifications. :up: Looks like the new Seagate drive is running quite cool. Our TiVo HD (stock WD drive) sits on an open-air shelf and runs around 43c, so 37c or so would certainly be an improvement. That flies in the face of logic with regard to size, power, etc., but who are we to argue?

Sound-wise it would be good to hear from others as well...louder, quieter or about the same?


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## HomieG (Feb 17, 2003)

Here's another option. Zipzoomfly.com has the Samsung HD501LJ 500GB internal SATA drive (3-year warranty) for $79.99 with free 5-7 day FedEx delivery. Not too shabby a price for a decent drive.


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## Omikron (Feb 27, 2006)

Personally, I found the 1TB Seagate drive to be MUCH quieter than the 1TB Hitachi drive i was replacing.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

Omikron said:


> Personally, I found the 1TB Seagate drive to be MUCH quieter than the 1TB Hitachi drive i was replacing.


Even when setting the Hitachi AM setting at 191 or lower? 191 is where it gets quiet, 128 is the quietest setting. I found my two Hitachis to be much, much quieter. I dumped the Seagate and sold it to my brother.


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## Omikron (Feb 27, 2006)

aaronwt said:


> Even when setting the Hitachi AM setting at 191 or lower? 191 is where it gets quiet, 128 is the quietest setting. I found my two Hitachis to be much, much quieter. I dumped the Seagate and sold it to my brother.


I suppose in retrospect I don't recall what setting I had the Hitachi set to, so I couldn't attest to that.


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