I don't have an SE, but performa's drive sounds different to the PC's drive (before the performa broke xx( ).

It sounded more like a concantenated series of rapid clicks-probably the noise of a fast stepper motor. Todays faster motors are quieter!

The drive still spins up, but won't stay like that. Nevertheless it still sounds like a concantenated series of rapid clicks (search: "Can dead battery cause hard disk troulbe").