04/02/2008, 2:25pm, EDT
Wednesday, April 2ndWD intros Studio Edition II external drives
Western Digital on Wednesday introduced its My Book Studio Edition II external dual-drive storage systems. Available with capacities of either 1TB or 2TB, the drives are formatted for Mac computers, but also come with software to make them Windows compatible. Both drives share four interface options, ranging from eSATA and FireWire 800 to FireWire 400 and USB 2.0. Each drive is meant for speed-intensive activities such as video editing, and as such default to a striped RAID 0 configuration; either model can however be configured for a RAID 1 mirrored setup, as necessary.
In addition to focusing on outright speed, the Studio Edition IIs utilize WD's GreenPower hard drives, claimed to use up to one-third less power when compared to similar 1TB dual-drive systems with 7200RPM drives. The IIs are said to be quiet as well, as they are designed to maintain optimal temperatures without cooling fans.
A capacity gauge allows quick checks of remaining capacity, and the drives are equipped with an automatic power-up feature along with WD's own Safe Shutdown capability. Information is backed up automatically and regularly via included software.
The drives are currently available in stores and on WD's website, with prices split between $350 for the 1TB version and $600 for the 2TB drive.
Filed under: industry
Other story tags: Mac, FireWire, Western Digital, WD, dual-drive
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Can anyone confirm the rotation speed of these GreenPower drives? I'm considering purchasing one of the MyBook Studio Editions (not this Edition II model). But there are conflicting specs listed in the various reviews. Some say it's 7200 rpm, some say 5400 rpm.
The statement above implies that it's 7200 rpm, but it's actually referring to the other drives they are comparing it to. The spec sheets on WD's own website makes no mention of the speed. This is a key drive performance spec, and the fact that they don't publish it suggests that it's of the slower variety.
Reviews of their 7,200 rpm drives state that write speed is 3X slower than comparable drives.