Western Digital releases 500GB drives

IN A MOVE that will shock just about no one, Western Digital came out with a 500GB HD. This drive, the Caviar SE16. is a bit of a break from the normal WD traditions, and falls in line with the rest of the industry.

It has NCQ and a 300MBps transfer rate, something that was a rarity in the WD lineup until recently. The drive, aimed at the large storage set (duh), spins at 7200RPM spindle speed, and sports 16MB of cache.

In addition to the normal tech, WD is implementing a new feature called WhisperDrive, and it uses SoftSeek technology to lessen drive noise. WD says it is virtually imperceptible to the human ear, but since such things are very subjective, I will wait until someone gets their hands on one before I pass judgement. MO

It may cost a little performance, but can be notably quieter. Hopefully, this is a settable feature, speed vs sound, I'll take the speed, and put the NAS box in the closet.

Whatever the case, it looks like WD is right back at the front of the pack again, it has all the check boxes filled in, and a few new ones on top of that. The drive retails for $349, but as is usual, will most likely be a bit cheaper online. µ