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WD ups its density

250 begat 320, TB to follow
Thursday, 24 January 2008, 10:03

WESTERN DIGITAL MOVED the 250Gb/square inch technology from it's laptop drives to it's desktop parts today. The move brings the firm from 250 to 320GB per platter on its mainstream parts.

On the surface, this may not sound like much, after all the Greenline drives have a 1TB capacity now, presumably that is about 320GB per platter * 3 platters, so why the fuss?

The new density point is for the higher speed Caviar line, bringing WD up to the same capacities as Seagate (Note: As far as we have been able to determine, Hitachi uses four platters meaning 250GB/platter like older WD drives.).

The first one of these drives you saw was the 2.5-inch Scorpio last year, but due to the reduction in diameter, it only held 160GB per platter or 320GB total. The new 3.5-inch Caviars have one platter and hold 320GB. Expect higher size models to follow in really short order, and the TB drives to come out in that set of releases.

Overall, it is a good thing, three platter 1TB drive competition can only mean lower prices for everyone. Then again, with prices already under $300 for a TB, things are already pretty inexpensive? ยต

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Comments
fishbone's misconception

There is no such thing as a 1TB external drive with a single drive inside for under $250 right now.

There are, however, several 1TB external drives that internally harbor two 500GB drives. This may be where fishbone's misconception has arisen.

I, for one, will build a 8TB multimedia server next week using twelve 750GB drives in a RAID5 configuration. 750GB drives at approx. $150 each are the "sweet spot" right now.

posted by : Greg, 24 January 2008 Complain about this comment
Platters

Currently the following manufacturers lineup of 1TB HDD's use the following combination of platters and density.

Samsung 3x 334GB, Seagate 4x 250GB, WD 4x 250GB, Hitachi 5x 200GB.

Please apply facts, then redo the math.

BTW, the WD "Green Power" 1TB drive is 5400rpm and NOT 7200rpm as most resellers still claim. WD has changed their description, but most customers dont realise this as it is advertised as 7200rpm or 5400-7200rpm.

Andy

posted by : Andy, 24 January 2008 Complain about this comment
Not expensive?

It's time 1TB drives fall under $250 in comparison to 750GB. Heck at the moment it's cheaper to buy a 1TB single drive external case and gut it than an internal....

posted by : fishbone, 24 January 2008 Complain about this comment
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