Other Benefits:
If the potential for a five fold increase in storage capacity wasn't enough, there are other benefits to perpendicular recording drives...
Shock Tolerance - Current longitudinal 2.5" drives, such as the Seagate Momentus 5400.2, offer a maximum operating shock tolerance of 250Gs. This number may be high compared to desktop drives, but mobile units are more prone to bumping, dropping, or other situations that may put the tolerance to the test. The 5400.3 family of drives will hit the market with what is an industry leading operating shock of 350Gs. A stiffer, lighter suspension and a denser face plate are responsible for this improvement.
Power Consumption - The 5400.3 family of drives consumes roughly 10% less power than equivalent longitudinal drives. This can translate into lower electric bills, or more importantly for the mobile market, longer battery lives. Along these same lines, it should be expected that the 5400.3 drives produce less heat, but no hard facts are available for this claim (we will be sure to investigate in an upcoming review).
Fewer Parts - Given the greater areal density, fewer parts are now required to construct a perpendicular drive with the same capacity as a longitudinal drive. For example, a Momentus 5400.2 80GB (longitudinal) drive requires two platters and three heads, while an 80GB 5400.3 perpendicular drive only requires one platter and two heads. Fewer parts should translate into lower costs, but it will most definitely translate into greater reliability.
Reliability - With benefits such as fewer parts, greater shock tolerance, and less heat production it can be seen that this new generation will also offer greater overall reliability. In addition to all of these reliability improvements, Seagate is still going to couple their industry leading 5-year manufacturer's warranty to these drives.
Noise - The Momentus 5400.3 series of drives will offer a sound level of 2.4 bels while at idle and 2.9 bels while seeking. As a comparison, the 7200.1 series idles at 2.5 bel, and the threshold of human hearing is 2.6 bels. These drives can be expected to be as quiet as a 4200 RPM drive, and below the threshold of human hearing!
Conclusion:
The future of perpendicular recording hard drives looks to be very interesting, and Seagate is ready to show off their first entry into the market with the release of the Momentus 5400.3 line of drives. Higher capacities, greater shock tolerance, and greater reliability are the key features in my opinion, but as we have seen this new technology offers far more!
For those tired of paper launches of hot new products, Seagate is offering a refreshing approach to the launch of the Momentus 5400.3 line of drives. These drives are already in the hands of many OEMs (Dell, Gateway, HP, Toshiba, to name a few) to be qualified with their equipment, and the 160GB model is already in retail channels, although it may be difficult to find presently.
That raises one issue we have not yet addressed... price. The MSRP of the 160GB Momentus 5400.3 drive is $325 (US), which puts it at about $2.03 per GB. When compared to a desktop drive that may seem high, but keep in mind this is now the largest 2.5" drive available. Checking PriceGrabber shows that the 120GB Momentus 5400.2 currently sells for anywhere from $239 to $320, or $1.99 to $2.66 per GB. So, not only does the 5400.3 offer a handful of improved features, its pricing is extremely competitive with previous generations of similar drives!
Key Features:
» Greater capacities than longitudinal recording drives
» Greater reliability due to fewer parts
» Greater energy efficiency (lower battery consumption, less heat)
» Greater shock protection
» Low noise
» Priced competitively with longitudinal drives
» Momentus 5400.3 represent the industry's first 2.5" perpendicular recording drives
» Seagate's industry leading 5 year warranty
Be on the look out for a review of a Seagate Momentus 5400.3 perpendicular recording drive at Bigbruin.com in the very near future!
Please drop by the Bigbruin.com Forum and feel free to post any comments or questions.
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