Western Digital Scorpio (WD6400BEVT, 640GB)
The new 640GB Scorpio Blue is almost as low on power as the Fujitsu MJA2500CH and delivers roughly the same transfer rates. However, WD reaches shorter access times and great I/O performance. Keep in mind that this is a 5,400 RPM drive, yet it matches Seagate’s 7,200 RPM Momentus 7200.4 in the database and file server tests where it technically shouldn’t.
The manufacturer specifies 2.5W for read/write operation and 0.85W idle power, which is close to what we measured: 0.7W idle and 2.6W for streaming reads. Intensive I/O activity resulted in 2.2W power consumption. In the end, WD’s streaming and workstation activity yielded average performance per watt.
WD has a marginal advantage when it comes to the operating environment, allowing for drive operation between 5°C and 60°C, while Fujitsu tops out at 55°C. However, Fujitsu’s drive is lighter; at 117g for the 640GB Scorpio Blue, WD weighs 16% more. In the end, the Scorpio’s power consumption is low, and performance is solid. However, WD could do better in the application benchmarks.
Two more high-capacity notebook drives are coming up soon, reaching 750GB and 1TB capacities. These will be using the same technical foundation, but work at modified parameters. Both will utilize three platters instead of two, and WD will reduce the spindle speed from 5,400 to 5,200 RPM. We’ll look at the new compact storage monsters once they arrive at our lab.
toshiba and fujitsu have already merged
Random read + Random write please next time.
While it may not fit every drive bay of the many laptop manufactures. WD has a 12.5mm 1TB 2.5" drive.
I bought the WD 500GB drive a few months ago now and am very pleased with it. I don't have benchmarks, but it feels a LOT faster than my older 60GB drive and extended my battery life a bunch. Running Win7 on top of that almost doubled my battery life under normal usage.
Wondering can a 12.5mm 2.5" drive fit in the PS3?
Wondering can a 12.5mm 2.5" drive fit in the PS3?
I wouldn't bet on it, but 640gb should be enough for a while
Yes I too am wondering if the 9.5mm 120GB/250GB 2.5" Toshiba hard drives that Sony ships inside the PS3 Slim can be replaced with a 12.5mm 2.5" drive. I don't have access to a PS3 Slim or a fat 12.5mm drive so I can't confirm myself.
Oh, that's why these HD makers have capacities as low a 80gb.. newsflash... flash memory is beginning to overlap these.. a redesign of the PS3/XBOX be made to use usb flash or sdhc flash instead of a HD at comparable prices!
I was about to comment that the numbers of hd's shipped in the 2.5" capcacities seemed like oversupply.. but when you factor in the low capacity hd's for consoles, it's about right. Still, anything below 250gb should be discontinued, IMO and come with 16mb cache memory (that's a big spread to have 80gb - 1000gb capacity in HD's when flash is beginning to overlap 64gb & 128gb usb sticks coming out and prices are bound to come down eventually).