1TB 3.5' HDD SATA II Roundup Storage   Page 1

Reviewer: RWL Staff Article Publish Date: 6/6/2009

 

 

 

 

 

 

INTRODUCTION

 

 

 

 

 

 

            HDD prices have taken a plunge in the past years making it possible for companies to develop and manufacture up to 2.000GB ( 2TB ) drives with quite antagonistic prices. Still the price falls in the HDD industry did not come without a price and so several companies that we in the PC industry grew up with ceased to exist or where taken over while some are also trying to figure out what course of action to take. This situation left only the two largest companies in HDD manufacturing as pioneers in developing new technologies and capacities for HDDs. Word of course is about Seagate and Western Digital which have been with us from the beginning.

 

 

 

           Seagate Technology has been at the forefront of the storage industry for nearly 30 years. With corporate offices in Scotts Valley, California, Seagate employs more than 55,000 people around the world, all contributing to the development of the company’s next-generation storage products. From the first 5.25-inch hard drive for the PC to the development of perpendicular recording technology, the company has been pioneering new industry standards that have fueled advancements in the digital information age. Through technology leadership and innovation, Seagate continues to help individuals and businesses maximize the potential of their digital content in an ever-evolving, on-demand world. 

 

 

 

           WD was founded in 1970 and began designing and manufacturing hard drives in 1988. Headquartered in Lake Forest, California, the company employs approximately 50,000 people worldwide. Manufacturing facilities are in California, Malaysia and Thailand; design facilities are in Southern and Northern California, Colorado and Thailand and sales offices are maintained around the world. The company’s storage products are marketed to leading systems manufacturers, select resellers and retailers under the Western Digital and WD brand names. WD’s common shares are listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol WDC. WD’s Web site may be found at www.westerndigital.com.

 

 

 

          As you all can see both companies have been around since the 70's and that puts them on a very small list of companies that have existed for so long. So today we will be taking a look at three 3.5' Hard Disk Drives, 1 from Seagate and 2 from Western Digital. More specifically this test will be done with the latest Seagate model the 1TB Barracuda 7200.12, the latest Western Digital 1TB Caviar Green and the Western Digital 1TB Caviar Black. I also tried to have Toshiba, Hitachi and Samsung in this roundup to make it a bit more complete but i was unable too due to several availability reasons. Later on we will have many HDD roundups but for now i thought it would be best if we started with medium capacity drives that offer great space with great price.