Storage
Without much fanfare, Western Digital this week introduced its first dual actuator hard drive, a 20TB drive that is designed to offer SATA SSD-like sequential read/write performance. The Ultrastar DC HS760 drive is meant to increase IOPS-per-terabyte performance for hyperscale cloud datacenters and will compete against Seagate's dual actuator Exos 2X family of HDDs. Meanwhile, Western Digital's offering will also mark the latest deployment of the company's OptiNAND technology. The dual actuator Ultrastar DC HS760 HDD builds upon the company's single actuator Ultrastar DC HC560 drive which uses nine 2.2TB ePMR (energy-assisted perpendicular magnetic recording) platters. But in the case of the HS760, WD adds a second actuator to the drive, essentially splitting it up into two quasi-independent drives with each half having domain over...
BenQ DW1620: An Elegant, Robust DVDR Surprise
Even though we have an extremely thorough DVDR roundup to publish in the next few weeks, we couldn't help but show off some of our thoughts about BenQ's cheap...
17 by Kristopher Kubicki on 9/29/2004Pioneer DVR-108D - Crowning a new Champion
The much awaited eighth generation Pioneer burner makes a splash and certainly impresses us at under $100.
36 by Kristopher Kubicki on 8/31/2004Sony DRU-540A: Sony's Answer to the 12x Call
With DVD write speeds increasing Sony tries to keep up by introducing its own 12x DVD burner.
15 by Purav Sanghani on 8/14/2004MSI DR12-A Preview: Still pushing for 12X DVDR
12X DVDR beckons closer with less pricey models than Plextor and LG's offerings, but can they compete with the quality of already available burners?
6 by Kristopher Kubicki on 7/17/2004Hitachi Brings 400GB to Desktops with the Deskstar 7K400
What will $450 get you? About 400GB worth of storage, thanks to Hitachi's new Deskstar.
18 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 7/10/2004Western Digital's Raptors in RAID-0: Are two drives better than one?
With software RAID "free" on motherboards today, users are often buying two drives for use in RAID-0 arrays to improve performance. But is performance really improved?
127 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 7/1/2004Maxtor's MaXLine III 250GB: Bringing 16MB Buffers and NCQ to Hard Drives
Maxtor's newest drive not only doubles the buffer size of its closest competitor to 16MB, but it also enables Native Command Queuing to make it one of the fastest...
38 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 6/25/2004LG GSA-4120B: High Speed Multi-format Champion
Considering DVD-RAM, but can't bear to ditch DVD-R or DVD+R? Look no farther as LG attempts to bridge the gap between all formats including DVD+R9.
17 by Kristopher Kubicki on 6/17/2004Q2 2004 Desktop Hard Drive Comparison: WD Raptor vs the World
We're finally ready to bring back hard drive reviews, and for good this time. Read on to see what our new test suite is like and how the latest...
50 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 6/7/2004Exclusive: Plextor 712A, First 12X DVD+R to Retail
Plextor floored us with the first retail 8X DVD+R recorder six months ago. Today, we see if they can do it again with the first retail 12X DVD+R...
11 by Kristopher Kubicki on 5/14/2004Exclusive: Sony DRU-700A Dual Layer Recorder
Here it is, the first look at a soon-to-be popular first DVD+R Dual Layer drive! DVDR-9 is here, but is it worth the premium?
24 by Kristopher Kubicki on 5/5/2004Spring 2004 DVD Performance Roundup: More DVD Dual 8X
We tested half a dozen DVD burners to determine which burner is, in fact, the best drive before DVD DL hits the market.
24 by Kristopher Kubicki on 4/28/2004ASUS DRW-0804P: Another 8X Dual Contender
ASUS' DRW-0804P is another revision on today's most popular DVD recorder.
8 by Kristopher Kubicki on 4/20/2004MSI DR8-A: The Plextor 708A's little brother
Before our 8x dual DVD roundup, we decided to show off one more 8X DVD+R that should have received more attention than it did...
11 by Kristopher Kubicki on 4/7/2004AT News Update: DVD Dual Layer Primer
Sony and Phillips both unveiled DVD DL (Dual Layer) drives in recent weeks, but it will probably be several months before we have sample drives to provide an in...
8 by Kristopher Kubicki on 3/29/2004Holiday Shopping Roundup: Eight Dual Format Recordable DVD Drives
Now that recordable DVD drives are breaking the sub $200 (and sub $100) level, virtually anyone who has ever made an optical product is pushing their recorder to be...
41 by Kristopher Kubicki on 12/11/2003Nu Tech DDW-081: More DVD+R madness
Nu Tech recently made a few waves for itself by introducing an 8X DVD+R/W burner for under $160. Although it’s not based on the traditional Ricoh DVD+RW chipset...
25 by Kristopher Kubicki on 10/22/2003ASUS DRW-0402P/D: ASUS joins the dual format fray
Since both the DVD dash and plus forums failed to become a unified standard, manufacturers and consumers have been forced to adopt both. Fortunately, creative manufacturers continue to...
8 by Kristopher Kubicki on 9/21/2003Plextor 708A: First exclusive look at 8X DVD+R
Philips spearheaded the DVD+R forum into 8X DVD+R speeds back in July, but today, we get to see the first actual 8X DVD+R drive in action. Who wouldn’t...
41 by Kristopher Kubicki on 9/12/2003CR52-M: CDRW ramps up to 32X
CDRWs are still finding their niche in many developing countries, but in the US, they are starting to show their age. MSI’s newest CR52-M produces solid performance, but...
13 by Kristopher Kubicki on 9/9/2003