The Basics:

The drive arrived in typical OEM packaging; a plain brown box, plastic drive holders, and then the drive itself. The image below shows the sample provided.



If you want a manual or perhaps a CD with a few utilities (that you'll probably never use), you'll want to spring for the retail version (which will also include two extra years of support).

Test System:

Model: HP Compaq 6710b
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo T8100 (2.1GHz)
Memory: 2x1GB
Optical Drive: HL GSA-T40L 8X DVD-RW(DL) with LightScribe

Installation:

Installation in the test system involved the removal of an external door and removal of HP's drive caddy. After securing the drive into the caddy, sliding it in place, and securing the external door to the chassis, we were ready to clone the drive with our fresh install of Microsoft Windows Vista Business.

The Competition:

Today we will pit the 500 GB Seagate Momentus 5400.6 drive against an 80GB Hitachi Travelstar 5K160 and the 120GB Seagate Momentus 5400.4. Let's do a quick "tale-of-the-tape":