Samsung Launches 1.5 TB "EcoGreen" HDD

Just when you thought 1 TB hard disk drives were getting a little cramped, Samsung today announced its efficient 1.5 TB drive.

Samsung’s latest drive is dubbed the EcoGreen F2EG and is put together with three 500 GB platters. The company points to its high-density platters as one of the key factors behind the hard drive’s power efficiency.

“Lower platter count means less power to start the motor, less power to continuously spin the motor and a lighter head-stack which takes less power to seek,” said Andy Higginbotham, director of HDD sales and marketing for Samsung. “With fewer heads and disks, the F2EG hard drive has a lower probability of head-disk failures, enabling customers to build more reliable systems.”

Samsung says that its F2EG drive is 40 percent lower in power consumption in idle mode and 45 percent lower in reading/writing mode than “competitive drives,” though the company didn’t reveal which those drives were.

All material related to the drive focus on the power efficiency advantages of the F2EG, leading us to believe that this is one not meant for the demanding desktop user. Instead, Samsung is primarily shipping the drive to manufacturers of home media PC, external HDD, set-top box, and personal NAS.

Marcus Yam
Marcus Yam served as Tom's Hardware News Director during 2008-2014. He entered tech media in the late 90s and fondly remembers the days when an overclocked Celeron 300A and Voodoo2 SLI comprised a gaming rig with the ultimate street cred.
  • FilthPig2004
    I assume this product is going head-to-head with WD Caviar Green 1.5TB, which has similar specs--here are the power specs.

    Samsung HD153UI
    Spin-up Current (Max.) 2.0A
    Seek (typical) 5.7W
    Read/Write (typical) 6.3W
    Idle (typical) 5.1W
    Standby (typical) 1W
    Sleep (typical) 1W

    Western Digital WD15EADS
    Read/Write 6.00 Watts
    Idle 3.7 Watts
    Standby 0.80 Watts
    Sleep 0.80 Watts

    WD looks like the winner on power, by a slim margin. Neither of these drives show up on Pricewatch.
    Reply
  • FilthPig2004
    Just noticed that Newegg is offering the WD15EADS for $159.99. Hopefully Samsung will come in below that price point.
    Reply
  • pocketdrummer
    Except Samsung drives have been crashing a lot... so reliable isn't exactly the term I would use for a product made by them.
    Reply
  • neiroatopelcc
    All manufacturers have had problems with this or that model. By a huge margin Maxtor has had the worst, but one can hope that seagate branded maxtor drives won't suffer the same. Anyway. I suppose wether you pick a samsung or wd drive depends on which is cheaper at the time you purchase.
    Reply
  • grieve
    I have a hard time understanding “green” for these computer components, I would prefer raw speed. In fact just the other day I bought a WD HDD… it was a black…

    I think every bit of “green” helps but come on already, let’s get some nuclear power plants going worldwide and drop emissions by a noticeable margin! Yes green HDD’s will play their role, .0000000000000000001%

    Ideally green HDD would not also mean slower…..
    Reply
  • hellwig
    I always liked Maxtor drives. I got a 9-year old 40GB Maxtor that I still use as my OS drive (Win XP) in my DVR PC running 24/7.

    Did Samsung release the RPM of this drive (their website doens't say)? Some people seem to suggest this is a 5400. Although WD doesn't list the RPM of their Caviar Green either. I guess RPM isn't a stat anyone cares about anymore. Seems to me that the one that most directly correlates to speed.
    Reply
  • neiroatopelcc
    WD green drives vary in speed. Some are 5400, some are 7200. Depends on the model.
    Reply
  • city_zen
    neiroatopelccWD green drives vary in speed. Some are 5400, some are 7200. Depends on the model.
    I've yet to see a 7200 RPM Western Digital GREEN drive ...
    Reply
  • zodiacfml
    it is easier to market drives as green than cheaper or slower.
    Reply
  • neiroatopelcc
    city_zenI've yet to see a 7200 RPM Western Digital GREEN drive ...Green 7200rpm drives currently on sale in denmark:

    WD6400AACS
    WD5000AAVS
    WD7500AACS
    WD10EACS
    WD10EADS
    WD10EAVS
    WD10EVVS
    WD20EADS
    Reply