Viewing page 1 of 3 pages.
1 2 3 NextJanuary 19, 2008 by Devon
Cooke
Product
|
Hitachi Global Storage Deskstar 7K1000 HDS721010KLA330
1TB, 7,200 RPM Desktop Hard Drive
|
Manufacturer
|
|
Market Price
|
US$280~400 |
The terabyte mark was reached almost exactly a year ago, when Hitachi announced
their 7K1000 at the CES 2007 conference. At the time, it was not only the largest
drive available, but by many accounts, it was also the fastest, giving Western
Digital's previously-untouchable 10,000 RPM Raptor a run for its money.
In the year since, the other major manufacturers have introduced new models
that match the 7K1000's capacity, but none has managed to pass it. In terms
of performance, the 7K1000 is still at or near the top; so far, Samsung seems
to be the toughest competitor, but Samsung's drive hasn't been widely reviewed
enough to draw any conclusions yet.
So, even though the 7K1000 is now a year old, it's still well worth looking
at it's size and performance won't be obsolete any time soon. But, what
about noise? With a year's worth of reviews already out there on the internet,
we don't have anything new to say about its performance, but we can do what
we do best: Give the drive a complete and thorough acoustic examination.

This box is about ten times the size of the actual drive.
The drive was shipped to us in a large retail box, most of which was occupied
by red packing foam. The drive was embedded in the middle inside a shiny antistatic
bag, and a few basic accessories were also included: A cable, some screws, a
generic manual / install guide, and a CD with a few utilities.

Very well padded.
Hitachi Global Storage Deskstar 7K1000 HDS721010KLA330
(from Hitachi's data
sheet)
|
FEATURE & BRIEF |
COMMENT |
Storage capacities up to 1
TB |
Still the industry high
water mark. |
Perpendicular magnetic recording
technology |
Old news now, this is the
driving technology behind the most recent generation of capacity improvements. |
SATA 3.0 Gb/s interface |
This interface speed is still
well above the point where it could become saturated. |
Ramp load design increases
shock protection and power savings |
Almost a standard feature
these days, and Hitachi has had it for years. |
Thermal monitoring and fly
height control enhance reliability |
Compensates for thermal changes,
allowing a wider range of operating temperatures. |
Three low-power idle modes
boost power efficiency |
They mean it when they say
idle modes; recovery time for these is counted in seconds. |
Silent seek acoustics
achieve ultra-quiet operation |
AAM comes standard on most
drives, but its effectiveness varies a lot. |
Host/drive authentication
for hardware security |
Presumably, this requires
a compatible drive controller and some work on the part of the user to enable. |
Help support this site, buy the Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000 1TB Hard Drive from one of our affiliate retailers! |
|