Western Digital is the first company to shrink the terabyte hard drive to 2.5 inches, after announcing its Scorpio Blue hard disk drives.
The drives, which come in 750 GB and 1 TB flavors, are intended as external storage for laptop and netbook users, though WD says some laptops and small form factor desktop PCs will pack them. The larger model is packaged into the My Passport Essential SE USB hard drive, while the smaller size is available on its own through select retailers. Both use the SATA 3 Gb/s interface, with 8 MB cache, spinning at 5,200 RPM.
Features for the new Scorpio Blue HDDs include WhisperDrive technology, which produces 24 dBA idle and 26 dBA seeking, and ShockGuard, though WD doesn't say how big of an impact can be absorbed. There's also a SecurePark feature that keeps the record heads off the disk surface during spin up, spin down and power off. This improves the drive's longevity by reducing head wear, WD says.
We've seen some solid advancements in hard disc drives recently, including Samsung's 250 GB, 1.8-inch external hard drive, LG's aesthetically pleasing XF1 and a Hitachi drive that still functioned after getting rolled over by a truck. Even if solid state drives eventually creep into notebooks and netbooks, HDD is securing a strong foothold in external storage.
The 1 TB Scorpio Blue will sell for a suggested $250, and the 750 GB model is priced at $190.
