Scorpio Black drives designed for mobility

Stephen Withers
Monday, 16 June 2008 10:03

Business IT - Technology

We're carrying around more hard drives than ever before, in notebooks, portable storage units and other devices. WD reckons this calls for a range of drives that combines capacity and ruggedness.

The Scorpio Black range of 7200 rpm, 2.5 in SATA drives comes in capacities up to 320G.

The spin speed, SATA 3 interface and 16M cache provide "maximum notebook performance" according to company officials, while a variety of technologies help protect the data.

SecurePark locks the head away from the platter surface during spin up and down, and while the drive is off. This increases shock tolerance and reduces long-term wear.

If the free-fall sensor detects the drive is falling, the head is parked within one-fifth of a second.

ShockGuard provides an additional layer of protection against shocks during operation or while the device is being transported.

Other WD technologies reduce noise, power consumption (said to be similar to 5400 rpm drives) and vibration.

"High performance, high-capacity hard drives are a key ingredient to notebooks as system manufacturers continue to add data-hungry features that allow users to fully benefit from the latest computing technologies," said said Jim Morris, WD's vice president and general manager of mobile storage.
 
Prices range from $A189 for the 160G unit though $A259 for 250G to $A319 for 320G. 80 and 120G models are available in some markets.