WD ships slim 500GB notebook drive
updated 09:55 am EDT, Fri September 12, 2008
WD Scorpio Blue Ships
Western Digital on Friday began shipping the 500GB Scorpio Blue, the company's largest-capacity notebook drive. Claiming a record in the process, Western Digital says the disk is the only one to make no sacrifices in size or speed to reach its storage goal. The Serial ATA drive is as tall as normal notebook hard drives at 9.5mm (0.37in) and spins at the same 5,400RPM as most other 2.5-inch disks. Quietness is also considered paramount with an optimized seeking process cutting down on the noise generated by the drive head.
As with most of Western Digital's notebook drives, the Blue is shock-resistant through a now virtually standard technique that parks the head in the event of a sudden drop. The firm is shipping the drive today both as a kit for do-it-yourself upgrades and as an OEM version for notebook manufacturers producing new systems with the added storage. In retail trim, the 500GB Scorpio Blue sells for $220 and will be complemented by a 400GB drive at $190.
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Nov 1999
What About Samsung?
Are these guys clueless? I have a 500GB samsung spinpoint drive in my MacBook Pro - it's 500GB, 9.5mm and 2.5" spinning at 5400 rpm.
They've been shipping for a while now and are available for under $200.00.
Sorry WD, but you're not the first.