HDDs

UPDATE 5/17, 6 PM: Western Digital has confirmed that the new 2.5-inch T GB HDDs uses 6 SMR platters The vast majority of laptops nowadays use solid-state drives, which is why the development of new, higher-capacity 2.5-inch hard drives has all but come to a halt. Or rather, it almost has. It seems that the 2.5-inch form factor has a bit more life left in it after all, as today Western Digital has released a slate of new external storage products based on a new, high-capacity 6 TB 2.5-inch hard drive. WD's new 6 TB spinner is being used to offer upgraded versions of the company's My Passport, Black P10, and and G-DRIVE ArmorATD portable storage products. Notably, however, WD isn't selling the bare 2.5-inch drive...

Seagate to Ship 5TB HDD in 2014 using Shingled Magnetic Recording

It's not just planar NAND that's running into physical limits lately. According to Seagate, its latest 1TB platter 3.5" drives have shrunk read/write heads as small as they can...

27 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 9/9/2013

Seagate's Ultra Mobile HDD: Putting HDDs in Android Tablets

In a move I honestly never thought would happen, Seagate is announcing today plans to brings its 5mm 2.5" Laptop Ultrathin HDD to Android tablets. The drive will come...

42 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 9/9/2013

Battle of the 4 TB NAS Drives: WD Red and Seagate NAS HDD Face-Off

The SMB / SOHO / consumer NAS market is expected to experience good growth over the next few years. With declining PC sales and increase in affordability of SSDs...

54 by Ganesh T S on 9/4/2013

Western Digital Updates Red NAS Drive Lineup with 4 TB and 2.5" Versions

In July 2012, we saw Western Digital tackle the burgeoning NAS market with the 3.5" Red hard drive lineup. They specifically catered to units having 1-5 bays. The firmware...

29 by Ganesh T S on 9/3/2013

Computex 2013: Silicon Power and Rugged Portable Storage

Silicon Power are currently a brand dealing with memory and flash storage, but on visiting their offices as part of our Computex 2013 activities they had a couple of...

5 by Ian Cutress on 6/8/2013

Western Digital Launches WD Se Hard Drive Lineup for Datacenters and High-end NAS Units

One of the most interesting launches from Western Digital last year was the WD Red line of hard drives from the client storage division. It was intended for low...

23 by Ganesh T S on 5/28/2013

Seagate to Discontinue 7200rpm 2.5" Drives Later This Year

Earlier today X-bit Labs reported that Seagate will stop the production of their 7200RPM 2.5" drives by the end of this year and I just got a confirmation from...

57 by Kristian Vättö on 3/1/2013

Hands On With Western Digital's New 5mm Hybrid Hard Drive

Remember the 5mm hybrid HDD announcement from yesterday? I just spent some time with the drive itself at the IDF Tech Showcase. The 5mm drive will be OEM-only at...

17 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 9/11/2012

Western Digital Teases 5mm Hybrid Hard Drive

Intel's Ultrabook push has forced hard drive makers to do two things: take hybrid drives more seriously (because of the Ultrabook performance requirements) as well as focus on thinner...

13 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 9/10/2012

WD Introduces Red: NAS Optimized HDD Line

WD did everyone a favor when they reorganized their products under color-coded branding a few years ago. With the Blue (mainstream), Green (quiet and cool) and Black (performance) lines...

39 by Jason Inofuentes on 7/10/2012

Western Digital VelociRaptor 1TB (WD1000DHTZ) Review

There was a time when Western Digital's Raptor (and later, the VelociRaptor) was a staple of any high-end desktop build. Rotational media could only deliver better performance by increasing...

92 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 4/16/2012

Western Digital To Sell Hitachi's 3.5” Hard Drive Business To Toshiba, Complete Hitachi Buyout

Almost exactly a year ago, Western Digital announced that they would be buying Hitachi’s hard drive division from Hitachi for $4.3 billion. Since then, the two companies have been...

9 by Ryan Smith on 3/6/2012

Seagate 2nd Generation Momentus XT (750GB) Hybrid HDD Review

To say I liked the original Momentus XT would be an understatement. While Seagate had the lofty goal of negating the need for an SSD with its first mass-market...

98 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 12/13/2011

Hard Drive Shortage Hits Intel: Q4'11 Earning Estimates Revised Down By $1B

It has been expected for some time now that the fallout from Thailand’s well publicized flooding and resulting hard drive shortage would have wider ramifications than just impacting the...

26 by Ryan Smith on 12/12/2011

Seagate's 2nd Gen Momentus XT: More NAND, Larger Capacity

It's been over a year since I reviewed Seagate's first hybrid hard drive: the 500GB Momentus XT. At the time I felt that it wasn't nearly as good as...

39 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 11/28/2011

Seagate Awarded $525 million in Arbitration with Western Digital

Western Digital announced today in a press release that the arbitrator for a Seagate vs. Western Digital complaint sided with Seagate and ordered an award of $525 million paid...

19 by Amman Sood on 11/21/2011

Thailand's flooding and our HDD needs

This holiday season might be a big one for SSD manufacturers. Like most tropical regions, Thailand experiences dry and rainy seasons, which are somewhat predicable, with the rainy season...

10 by Jason Inofuentes on 11/18/2011

Seagate's New Barracuda 3TB (ST3000DM001) Review

Platter density has been the crutch of hard drive makers in recent history. Increasing spindle speeds can reduce random access latency, but at the expense of cost and thermals...

77 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 11/2/2011

Seagate Introduces New 1TB-Per-Platter Barracuda, Solid State Hybrid Version Coming

Yesterday Seagate had three members of its Barracuda family of 3.5" hard drives: the Barracuda Green, Barracuda, and Barracuda XT. Today, all three lines are being folded under the...

37 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 11/1/2011

Western Digital My Book Studio Edition II 6TB Review

While we await more Thunderbolt storage devices, Western Digital grabbed headlines not too long ago for the announcement of its 6TB My Book Studio Edition II Mac-ready external drive...

34 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 9/10/2011

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