Hasta La Gadget!

Well look at that: it’s the world’s first 320GB hard disk drive to spin at 7,200 RPM in a 7-mm high package — take that Seagate. The 2.5-inch Serial ATA 3Gbps Travelstar Z7K320 features a 1,334Mbps max transfer rate assisted by a 16MB cache. The HDD draws 1.8 watts during read/write operations and 0.8 watts on lower-power idle while humming along at 23dB when idle or 24dB when seeking. And that skinny 7-mm form factor means it’ll go places no standard 9.5-mm thick drive could even dream of when it hits the mass production lines in August — like say next generation ultra-thin netbooks.

Continue reading Hitachi stuffs 320GB into world’s fastest 7mm hard drive

Hitachi stuffs 320GB into world’s fastest 7mm hard drive originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Jun 2010 03:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Just as we surmised, Seagate is taking the wraps off its new hybrid drive, with OEM shipments of the Momentus XT starting today. Hailed as the fastest 2.5-inch laptop drive on the planet, this here device marries a 7200RPM hard drive (250/320/500GB) with 4GB of SLC NAND flash memory and 32MB of cache, and the company’s Adaptive Memory technology allows it to store frequently used information on the latter for ultra-speedy access. It can boot up to 100 percent faster than a conventional 5400RPM hard drive, and thankfully for us all, it utilizes a standard 9.5mm-high form factor that the vast majority of laptops use. Seagate also affirms that the drive “operates independently of the operating system and the motherboard chipset,” but we’re going to hold tight until we see the first real benchmarks (it’ll soon be an option in ASUS’ ROG G73Jh gaming laptop) before getting all hyped up. In related news, the outfit also announced the world’s highest capacity 7200RPM drive at 750GB, with the Momentus 750GB boasting SATA 3Gbps support, an NCQ interface, 16MB of cache and “silent acoustics.” No price is mentioned, but you can bet a hefty premium will placed on something this capacious. The full presser, another image and a specs sheet awaits you beyond the break.

Update: The reviews are already pouring in, and at just $155 for the 500 gigger, it’s receiving a fair amount of praise.

Continue reading Seagate pairs 7200RPM HDD with 4GB of NAND in 2.5-inch Momentus XT hybrid drive

Seagate pairs 7200RPM HDD with 4GB of NAND in 2.5-inch Momentus XT hybrid drive originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 24 May 2010 08:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Seagate has been pushing the areal density envelope for years now, but by and large, these “developments” we hear about typically fade into the cold, harsh winter night without ever amounting to anything tangible. Not so this go ’round, with the company confirming to Thinq (and reaffirmed on our end) that it will be “announcing a 3TB drive later this year.” If you’ll recall, 2TB drives have held the crown for the world’s largest since early 2009, and if all goes to plan, we’ll be able to buy drives 50 percent larger than even those before the dawn of 2011. The company didn’t talk details — we’re still left to envision a price, release date and spindle speed — but it didn’t hesitate to mention a few issues that users with older operating systems may encounter. Essentially, you’ll need to have a rig that’s fully capable of handling the Long LBA (logical block addressing) standard, which means that you’ll need updated drivers, an updated BIOS and either a 64-bit copy of Vista, Windows 7 or “modified version of Linux.” As you’d expect, Windows XP users needn’t pay this platter any mind, and while Seagate is hopeful that industry players will all rally in short order to support the new HDD, there’s still a chance that these growing pains will lead to delays. What we’re most jazzed about here, crazily enough, isn’t the predictable jump in capacity — it’s the fantasies of über-cheap 2TB drives once they fall from the top.

[Thanks, JC]

Seagate confirms 3TB hard drive for 2010, possible 32-bit OS issues originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 17 May 2010 17:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading Switched On: A new spin on external hard drives, part one

Switched On: A new spin on external hard drives, part one originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 06 May 2010 18:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We all knew Seagate’s FreeAgent line couldn’t hang around forever, and tonight the storage mainstay has revealed the next logical step for the line. The GoFlex family is one of the more varied ranges out there from any hard drive maker, with the primary intent on the HDD side being to create drives (ranging from 320GB to 2TB) that are friendly with both Macs and PCs (simultaneously) while also giving users the ability to upgrade their connection or switch it out depending on what workstation they interface with. The new crew supports USB 2.0 out of the box, though upgrading to USB 3.0, FireWire 800 or eSATA can be accomplished via the new GoFlex cable system. Also launched today is the GoFlex TV HD media player, which essentially acts as a liaison between your tele and your media, regardless of whether it’s stored locally, on the LAN or on the internet. Moving on, there’s the GoFlex Net media sharing device, which transforms any USB mass storage device into one that’s happy to pump out content via the ‘net — think Pogoplug, and you’ve pretty much got the idea. It looks as if the whole crew will be available for purchase starting this week, with the full list of details and prices just beyond the break.

Continue reading Seagate introduces new GoFlex range: multi-port HDDs, media players, etc.

Seagate introduces new GoFlex range: multi-port HDDs, media players, etc. originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 May 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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