Fancy a seriously BIG hard disk that can hold all your movies, stills and MP3s and still have room to back up your C: drive a few times over? Well, Seagate's got one - 750GB (unformatted) - and you can get the SATA2 variant right now for a VAT-inclusive £285-and-a-bit if you know where to look.
The Barracuda ST375064AS is a 7,200rpm/16MB model and top dog in the 7200.10 family. That covers a range of drives in five capacities from 200GB upwards, each in a SATA2 and PATA version, and with all SATA2 models able to operate in SATA1 mode.
Massive capacity doesn't mean the drive is physically any bigger than lesser HDDs - it's standard 3.5in format. The trick is Seagate's use of magnetic material that accepts a charge perpendicular to the suface of disk platters, rather than parallel with it. Rather over-simplifying things, this orientation allows more particles to be crammed onto the same surface area and also cuts down on the tendency for ever-smaller particles to lose their charge when they get heated up.
There's a bit more about the technology here (PDF- right-click to download) and on Wikipedia and also in the 7200.10 family spec sheet (PDF again).
What we can't tell you is whether or not Seagate's big boy is any good. We've not published our own hands-on but do have something VERY interesting in the offing - a look at five of the Seagates in a 3.75TB (unformatted) Raid array! Check out this First Look taster - 3.75TB of storage in your PC!
However, there are independent reviews out on the net suggesting that it looks an okay bet even if it's not necessarily suitable for use in servers and can get rather warm. However, you'll have to decide for yourself which of the sites' opinions you feel you can best trust.
Interesting stuff! Well, it is if like wopping great HDDs. Want to know more or let us know what you know about matters perpendicular and Seagate? Then feel free to comment in the HEXUS.community.
HEXUS.links
HEXUS First Look taster - 3.75TB of storage in your PC!
SCAN Computers - Buying link for Seagate 750GB SATA 2 drive (ST375064AS)
Seagate - Perpendicular technology (PDF- right-click to download)
Seagate - 7200.10 family spec sheet (PDF again)
Google - Search for reviews of 7200.10
Wikipedia - Perpendicular recording
