Fujitsu Rolls Out 300GB Mobile HDD

Fujitsu's new drive features a 300GB storage capacity, but only a 4200RPM spindle speed

The mobile storage wars are on and all of the top hard drive manufacturers are looking to one-up each other. Fujitsu fired the latest shot yesterday with the introduction of its new 300GB external HDD.

The 2.5"-based drive features a SATA interface internally and a USB 2.0 interface for connecting to a notebook computer. The drive also features a 16-point omnidirectional shock mounting design to protect the drive for rough handling.

"We are proud to launch the world’s highest capacity 2.5" External HDD product into the marketplace at a time when consumers are demanding more storage, compact designs, and features that advance the level of data security," said Fujitsu's Lorne Wilson. "Fujitsu has almost forty years of experience in the hard disk drive industry, and we have successfully expanded our 2.5" HDD business over the last fourteen years. As a result of our focus and commitment to R&D, we have been able to leverage our expertise in this field to create an ideal solution for portable backup and storage solutions."

While Fujitsu may now hold the storage crown with its new drive, the spindle speed is a disappointing 4200RPM. The latest 250GB drives announced feature 5400RPM spindle speeds while 200GB units are spinning at 7200RPM.

The MSRP for Fujitsu's new drive is $229 and it will be available during the third quarter.


Source from dailytech

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Seagate Announces 1TB Drives

New Barracuda 7200.11 and ES.2 offer capacities up to 1TB with 32MB caches

Seagate today unveiled two 1TB hard drives for consumer and enterprise markets – the new Barracuda 7200.11 and Barracuda ES.2. Seagate claims to have “the world’s most advanced family of one terabyte drives” with the new Barracuda models.

The new Barracuda 7200.11 is the follow up to last year’s Barracuda 7200.10, ready to take on Hitachi and Samsung 1TB offerings. Seagate packs the 1TB Barracuda 7200.11 with 32MB of L2 cache, SATA 3.0Gbps and native command queuing support. The Barracuda 7200.11 makes use of four 250GB platters with second-generation perpendicular magnetic recording technology, or PMR. Seagate claims the new Barracuda 7200.11 can sustain 105MB/s data rate.

Even with four platters, Seagate claims the new Barracuda 7200.11 only draws 8-watts during idle and 11.6-watts during seek. Acoustically, the Barracuda 7200.11 generates around 27-to-29 decibels of noise during idle and seeking tasks. As with all new Barracuda generations, the 7200.11 improvements and technologies trickle down to smaller sizes. Seagate also offers the Barracuda 7200.11 in 750GB and 500GB sizes with the same 32MB buffer and PMR technology. Due to smaller sizes, the 750GB drive makes use of three platters while the 500GB drive has two platters.

Seagate’s new Barracuda ES.2 models cater towards the enterprise markets. Although it is similar to the Barracuda 7200.11, Seagate offers the ES.2 with serial attached SCSI, or SAS, interfaces. Seagate has also raised the MTBF rating of the Barracuda ES.2 to 1.2 million hours, up 200 thousand hours from the previous Barracuda ES.

Expect the Barracuda 7200.11 and ES.2 to arrive sometime this quarter in capacities up to 1TB. Seagate prices the 1TB Barracuda 7200.11 with an MSRP of $399. As with other Seagate drives, the new Barracuda 7200.11 and ES.2 come with five year warranties.

Source from dailytech

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Samsung Begins Mass Production of 64GB SSDs

Samsung rolls out its highest capacity 1.8" flash SSD

Back in March, Samsung announced its 64GB flash Solid State Disk (SSD). The 1.8" unit promised read speeds of 65MB/sec and write speeds of 45MB/sec.

Samsung today revealed that it has started mass production of its new drive. The 64GB SSD uses 64 eight gigabit single-level cell (SLC) flash memory chips which are built on a 51 nanometer manufacturing process.

"We see sharply increasing interest in SSDs among OEMs worldwide amid a growing push to launch premium SSD-based notebooks, particularly in the ultra-mobile category," said Jim Elliott, director, flash marketing, Samsung Semiconductor, Inc.

Samsung's 64GB SSD will likely appear at online retailers and inside ultra-portable notebooks (and UMPCs) within the coming weeks and months.

SSDs have the advantage of low power consumption, low weight, durability, silent operation and high performance. These advantages are expected to allow SSDs to account for 29 percent of ultra-portable notebooks and 25 percent of mainstream notebooks according to iSuppli.

The benefits afforded by SSDs are offset by one major deficit: pricing. 1.8" SSD are currently around five times expensive as their 1.8" HDD counterparts. By the year 2010, that differential is expected to only drop to three times as expensive.

For those that simply can’t wait for the 1.8” 64GB SSDs to arrive, the older and slower 32GB version (53MB/sec reads, 30MB/sec writes) is available online for the princely sum of $529.


Source from dailytech

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Seagate Launches Mobile Hard Drives for Extreme Environments

Seagate to offer second generation high tolerance mobile hard drives for extreme operating conditions

Soon after Seagate Technology began shipping its first 1TB hard disk drive offering, it launched a new mobile hard disk drive built for extreme conditions. Seagate Technology is offering the 2.5-inch EE25 Series 5400.2 mobile disk drive at up to 80GB in capacity and is geared towards those who require durability and reliability in the most hostile conditions.

With a top capacity of 80GB the EE25.2 Series 5400.2 features a high tolerance of extreme temperature conditions, vibrations, humidity, shock, and not-so-ordinary altitudes. Capacities of 30GB, 40GB, and 60GB will also be available in both PATA and SATA interfaces.

To put the tolerance levels in numbers, the EE25.2 Series 5400.2 drives can withstand temperatures in the -30 to +85 degrees Celsius range, humidity levels of 90%, and operate at up to 16,400 feet above sea level. The drives will also tolerate vibrations of 150 Gs at 11 milliseconds. Additionally, Seagate backs these drives by its 5-year warranty which makes this series that much more cost-effective.

Pricing information has not yet been released but we can bet these drives will be aimed at those who are willing to pay for the durability of a tank.


Source from dailytech

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Seagate claims highest density 3.5” hard drive

According to Seagate, the technology achieves an areal storage density of 180 Gb per square inch and will be used in the 7200.10 series of hard drives. Apparently, Seagate does not aim to set a new storage capacity record for this segment just yet, as the firm said that the new platters will be introduced in the “industry's first 250 GB-per-disc, 3.5” disc drive.”

The advantage of running a single platter in a drive comes down to lower power consumption, lower operating temperatures and less noise. Seagate did not disclose how much power the new drive will consume, previous 7200.10 drives with multiple platters, however, are rated at 7.5 watts – which is more three times the consumption of current 250 GB 2.5” drives, which rotate their discs at lower speeds (5400 rpm instead of 7200 rpm), but typically consume only around 2 watts during read and write processes.

Competing 3.5” technologies, including the 1 TB drive from Hitachi GST, store 200 GB per platter and achieve an areal density of 144 Gb per square inch. At least theoretically, the new platters will allow Seagate to roll out hard drives with five platters and a total capacity of 1.25 TB.

While Seagate can claim that it offers that highest density on 3.5” drives, competitors are offering substantially higher capacities in 2.5” models. Hitachi’s recently announced 2-platter 2.5” drive with 250 GB is rated at 205 Gb per square inch.

Source from TG Daily

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WD Now Shipping 750 GB Caviar Desktop Hard Drives

750 GB for all your little files, or just a few of your really big ones

Western Digital said that is now shipping in volume the 750 GB SATA WD Caviar SE16 desktop-class hard drives. The drives feature a 3 Gb/s transfer rate, 16 MB cache, Native Command Queuing and a host of other WD technologies.

Don Bennett, WD vice president and general manager of desktop storage, speaks on some the new Caviar’s bullet points: "WD knows that there is nothing more important than our customers' data. Uniquely, our new desktop hard drive brings together SecurePark for better shock characteristics, StableTrac for better vibration performance, and IntelliSeek to reduce power consumption. These proven features will further WD's lead as the most reliable desktop products."

The WD Caviar SE16 achieves its size with the help of Perpendicular Magnetic Recording (PMR) technology, where the magnetization of each data bit is aligned vertically to the spinning disk, rather than longitudinally. PMR enables more data on a given disk than is possible with conventional longitudinal recording, and provides a platform for future expansion of hard drive densities.

WD Caviar SE16 750 GB (model WD7500AAKS) is now available at an MSRP of $249.


Source from dailytech

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Hitachi 250GB Notebook Drives

Hitachi may be a little late to the game, but it is finally joining the 250GB 2.5" notebook hard drive ranks. The company today announced its new Travelstar 5K250 drive and said that it has the best power-efficiency of any drive in its class.

"The Travelstar 5K250 was built from the ground up for notebook PC users who demand high capacity, ruggedness, speed and power efficiency," said Shinjiro Iwata, chief marketing officer for Hitachi Global Storage Technologies. "With all of the improvements we’ve integrated into the 5K250, we are confident Hitachi will continue to maintain its leadership position in the 2.5-inch hard disk drive space."

The Travelstar 5K250 spins at 5400RPM and uses a Serial ATA interface. The company will also sell its E5K250 alongside the new 5K250. The E5K250 features Hitachi's Bulk Data Encryption 3 hard-drive level data security mechanism.

The new 250GB drives are shipping now; however, pricing has not yet been announced.


Source dailytech

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SanDisk Announces 64GB SSDs

SanDisk has had its share of the solid-state disk (SSD) limelight for the first half of 2007. In January, the company announced a 1.8" 32GB SSD for notebooks computers. In March, the company introduced another 32GB offering -- this time in a 2.5" form-factor. The next month, Dell offered the 1.8" SanDisk UATA 5000 in its Latitude D420 and Latitude D620 ATG semi-rugged notebooks.

Today, SanDisk is grabbing headlines again with its 64GB 1.8" UATA 5000 SSD and 64GB 2.5" SATA 5000 SSD. The SSDs offer a MTBF of 2 million hours, average access speeds of 0.11 milliseconds and average read speeds of 67MB/sec. Both SSDs consume just 0.4 watts while at idle and 1.0 watt when in active operation.

"Laptop manufacturers have requested more memory capacity for systems that use the Microsoft Vista platform, which can require a number of preloaded accessories and security suites," said SanDisk director of SSD product marketing Doreet Oren. "Also, there is interest in developing laptops for gaming, and the SSD is well-suited for the performance and memory requirements of those users. Thus, by offering greater capacities on our SSD products, we are making our products more appealing to a wider customer base."

SanDisk will ship engineering samples of its 64GB 1.8" UATA 5000 SSD and 64GB 2.5" SATA 5000 SSD during the third quarter while regular production is due to begin by the end of the year.


Source dailytech

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Lite-On LH-2B1S Blu-ray Burner Review

Blue laser hardware is gradually becoming more affordable. On the consumer side, Blu-ray players such as the Samsung BD-P1000 are starting to approach the $500 price point. HD-DVD players are dipping below $300 for 1080i units like the Toshiba HD-A2, and you can pick up a 1080P Toshiba HD-A20 for under $400.

On the PC front, events have moved a little more slowly. Blu-ray burners have dropped in price by about a third. For example, the Sony BWU-100A we reviewed late last year initially weighed in at $750, but you can now find it for $599. The HD-DVD front for the PC has been somewhat slower to materialize. External HD-DVD drives from HP are available, as is the Xbox 360 HD-DVD drive, which works fine on a PC. But both are HD-DVD ROM drives, not burners. The Toshiba SD-H903A internal HD-DVD burner has supposedly shipped, but you can't find it anywhere, and review samples from Toshiba haven't been available either.

It's also inevitable that combo drives that can handle both types of disks will become available. We recently previewed the LG GGW-H10N, but it's believed that particular drive will cost well over $1,000. Though this LG drive is a full-featured Blu-ray and DVD burner, HD-DVD support is limited to playback of HD-DVD ROM disks only.

Now Lite-On is jumping into the fray. The company famous for driving down prices of DVD recordable drives is shipping the LH-2B1S Blu-ray Burner, which can be found for under $500 (check prices). While a five hundred dollar drive isn't exactly a budget product, it does demonstrate that the price of blue laser technology is starting to come down from the stratosphere.

Let's take a closer look. Continue...

Source extremetech

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Seagate Momentus 7200.2 - 160 GB, 7200 RPM

This is probably the most interesting 2.5" notebook hard drive available today. Seagate's Momentus 7200.1 was the first model to introduce 7,200 RPM rotation speeds for notebook hard drives, but its maximum capacity of 100 GB isn't sufficient any more today. The second generation 7200.2 is based on Perpendicular Recording Technology, which helps to increase data density and performance by storing magnetic particles in a vertical orientation as opposed to traditional, longitudinal recording.

The Momentus 7200.2 reached an amazing data transfer date of almost 60 MB/s and an average transfer rate of 45 MB/s. This is as fast as the maximum speed of many 5,400 RPM drives. We measured a very quick access time of 14.2 ms, which is clearly faster than the 15.1 and 15.4 ms of Hitachi's Travelstar 7K100 and the Seagate Momentus 7200.1.

There is an 8 MB cache memory and a Serial ATA/300 interface, which reads nicely, but would not be necessary to reach the performance numbers we measured; Native Command Queuing (NCQ) is supported as well. However, we found another feature more interesting: Seagate incorporates freefall sensor technology, which is designed to prevent drive damage in the event of a drop or other shock. The feature is called G-Force Protection, and it puts the drive into a non-operating state by moving the read/write heads off the medium and locking them when the system senses that it is in free fall. Samsung is working on a similar technology, but it seems that Seagate beat it to market. You can already find freefall sensor solutions in retail products such as Lenovo Thinkpad notebooks; in that particular case, the sensor is built into the notebook. Moving it into the hard drive removes the necessity to run a service that orders the hard drive to park its heads in case of a drop.

Seagate seems to have considered even more aspects in its attempt to offer the perfect notebook drive. The operating temperature range of the Momentus 7200.2 exceeds the common 5-55°C, being specified for operation at up to 60°C. All Momentus drives also come with a five year manufacturer's warranty, while other drive makers offer a maximum of three years.

There is one disadvantage, though: although the 7200.2 is clearly more energy efficient than the Momentus 7200.1 or Hitachi's Travelstar 7K100, it still requires up to 50% more idle power than an efficient 5,400 RPM drive or a 4,200 RPM model. And all the features and performance come at the price of increased weight: the Fujitsu and Toshiba drives weigh 101 g, while the Momentus 7200.2 weighs 115 g - 14% more.

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Fujitsu MHW2160BH - 160 GB, 5400 RPM

This is the second largest, but the fastest 2.5" hard drive by Fujitsu. The MHW2160BH offers a capacity of 160 GB, is equipped with a Serial ATA/150 interface, and carries 8 MB of cache memory. There is a 200 GB drive, the MHV2200BT, but it has a height of 12.5 mm compared to the more common 9.5 mm, and it runs at 4,200 RPM. The 160 GB MHW2160BH rotates at quicker 5,400 RPM, yet doesn't consume too much energy. Fujitsu deploys its fluid dynamic bearing system to reduce noise, which it calls Silent Drive Technology.

After a look at our power consumption results, we found that the MHW2160BH is very energy efficient when compared to other 5,400 RPM drives. We measured an idle power of 0.7 W, which is less than the idle power of Hitachi's Travelstar 5K160 or the Seagate Momentus 5400.3 at 160 GB. However, Samsung's HM160JC is even more thrifty, requiring as little as 0.5 W in idle mode. The Samsung drive we tested before was equipped with an UltraATA interface, however, while the Fujitsu MHW2160BH runs Serial ATA, which, like many other serial technologies, may require slightly more energy.

The 17.8 ms access time is an average result, which both Toshiba and Seagate underbid. However, Seagate's 14.2 ms access time shouldn't be the benchmark, as the Momentus spins much faster.

A maximum sequential read transfer rate of 48 MB/s is an excellent result for a 5,400 RPM drive - as a matter of fact, it actually beats the maximum transfer rate of Seagate's first generation Momentus 7200.1. However, the average and minimum transfer rates could be a bit quicker, as Toshiba's 160 GB drive offers better performance as you fill the 160 GB with data. Fujitsu's drive reaches good results in PCMark05's hard drive benchmark, which tests file write performance and Windows XP startup time.

The operating temperature range of 5-55°C is very much standard for notebook hard drives today, as is the drive's weight of 101 g. Fujitsu states a component life span of five years, but it only offers a three year warranty.

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Hitachi's 7K1000 Terabyte Hard Drive

Terabyte Hard Drives Are Here!


On March 16, 2007, UPS delivered to our storage test lab a shipment from Hitachi, which we had anticipated for several weeks. The box contained the world's first hard drive with a total capacity of 1 terabyte (1 TB): the Deskstar 7K1000.

The new drive is a milestone for both Hitachi and the hard drive industry. Not only is it the first product to store up to 1,000 gigabytes on a single hard drive - beating Seagate to the market - but it also comes with a number of innovations. In addition to its Serial ATA II interface, it is the first hard drive that carries as much as 32 MB of cache memory, and it is Hitachi's first 3.5" drive to implement perpendicular magnetic recording technology (PMR). The company had deployed PMR in its Travelstar 5K160 family, but not into desktop drives. Hitachi's data sheet also lists various features that help to increase reliability and reduce power consumption.

To reach the high capacity of 1 TB, Hitachi had to increase the areal density of the storage media in its new drive. Its predecessor, the Deskstar T7K500, is based on three magnetic platters that store approximately 166 GB each, while the new 7K1000 is based on five platters at approximately 200 GB each. Seagate is currently preparing its 1 TB drive on a four platter design. Hitachi has already had hard drives with five platters in the past, and such a configuration is fairly common for enterprise hard drives as well. Although the PMR recording technology is mature enough to store far beyond 200 GB on a platter, Hitachi decided to stay on this conservative course.

While the capacity of 1 TB is unmatched and highly appealing to enthusiasts, we had to get one of the first 7K1000 drives to check how it compares to the competition: Samsung's 500 GB T166 drive offers great transfer rates at low cost, and Seagate's 750 GB Barracuda 7200.10 has proven to be an excellent choice as well. We recommend checking out our Interactive HDD Charts to compare the performance of over 30 hard drive models.

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