Toshiba 500GB 2.5-inch SATA Laptop Hard Drive (5400rpm, 8MB Cache) MQ01ABD050, Mechanical Hard Disk

The Toshiba MQ01ABD050 is a reliable, entry‑level mechanical hard drive designed for laptops, game consoles, and external USB enclosures. While it’s not a performance drive, it’s known for quiet operation, low power draw, and solid long‑term durability—making it a practical choice for everyday computing or storage expansion. 👍 Pros • Reliable mechanical design Toshiba’s MQ series is known for stable performance and long lifespan, especially in low‑heat environments like laptops and portable drives. • Low power consumption Ideal for notebooks, older MacBooks, and USB‑powered external enclosures. • Quiet operation The 5400rpm speed keeps noise and vibration low, making it suitable for media playback or office use. • Good for everyday tasks Works well for web browsing, documents, light applications, and general storage. • Compatible with many devices Fits most laptops, PS3/PS4 (for replacement), DVRs, and external USB cases. • Affordable upgrade option Great for reviving older machines without spending much. 👎 Cons • Not fast by modern standards 5400rpm + 8MB cache means slower boot times and file transfers compared to SSDs or even 7200rpm HDDs. • Mechanical wear over time As with all spinning drives, performance can degrade and failure risk increases with age. • Limited cache 8MB is small by today’s standards, which affects multitasking and large file operations. • Not ideal for gaming or heavy workloads Load times and texture streaming will lag behind SSD‑based systems. Technical Notes • Interface: SATA II/III compatible • RPM: 5400 • Cache: 8MB • Form factor: 2.5" (9.5mm height) • Average transfer rate: ~80–110 MB/s (real‑world) • Noise level: Low, thanks to slower spindle speed • Best use cases: • Basic laptops • External USB drives • Media storage • Light office machines • Legacy systems Final Thoughts The Toshiba MQ01ABD050 isn’t a performance powerhouse, but it’s a dependable, quiet, and energy‑efficient mechanical drive that excels in everyday use and device repairs. If you’re restoring an older laptop or building a budget external drive, it’s a solid and trustworthy choice.

After reading that a reviewer that had received a used drive, I was relieved to get a new one. Initialized, partitioned and formatted quickly, with no problems. Very quiet, and as fast as you can hope for a SATA HDD to be. It will work out well for backups.

Toshiba 500GB 2.5-inch SATA Laptop Hard Drive (5400rpm, 8MB Cache) MQ01ABD050 With the advent of SSD's and their "IFy" life spans, I buy HDD's for life span and to get away from the SSD's inherited "write wear". Look it up if you don't know what it is. Most don't know because they dont talk about it. The Hdds do not suffer from write wear at all so you have unlimited write abilities on the HDD. I buy many types of HDD's but Toshiba has been the one I have turned to the most lately. NOTE: Most HDD's will come "cleaned" which means you will have to "Initialize" the HDD for your computer to see it. Initializing can be easy or it can be difficult, depending on the system you are using. after initializing, the HDD will operate like any other drive. The Toshibas have all needed initializing on my machines. The Hdds have been reliable and other than me dropping one, I can't think of any that have failed recently. Because the SSD's tend to lose memory if stored for long periods of time, ie: back ups, I use the HDD's for back up storage as they do not tend to lose memory over time. I also like to use them as external drives, using the USB adapter which plugs directly into the drive. Works great. Because I have not had problems with these, I RECOMMEND them. I do not know the seller nor do I receive any money or product for my random review 230702 1248

Great buy

Needed a bigger HDD in my laptop computer and this did the trick. It seems to be functioning just fine and have had no problems so far.

First I used Clonezilla to make a bare metal backup but the bad sectors cause the backup to fail. I then turned to Rescuezilla which has an option to ignore bad sectors which created a fully operational backup. Restore to this drive, and all is well. It is a fine drive, attractively priced. It is a mechanical drive, not as fast or as robust as an SSD but certainly adequate to bring an old laptop back to life.

I bought this hard drive and have installed by end of September, but unfortunately doesn't last too much, barely 1 month. Don't waste money on this item.

great