The new Momentus Thin laptop hard drive.
(Credit: Seagate)At only 9.5mm, the regular 2.5-inch laptop hard drive is already very thin compared with the 25.4mm of the 3.5-inch desktop hard drive. But Seagate, one of the bigger hard-drive makers around, just decided to go even slimmer.
The company announced Monday the Momentus Thin, a new 2.5-inch-based laptop hard drive that's 25 percent thinner, at only 7mm. This reduction in thickness makes the new hard drive comparable, in physical size, to that of most solid state drives (SSDs) used in Netbooks and ultraportable computers. However, it retains the advantages of regular hard drives, which include much higher capacities and, most importantly, a much lower cost per gigabyte.
The Momentus Thin offers the same performance as a regular SATA 2.5-inch hard drive, which is faster than most low-end SSD used in Netbooks. The new drive comes in two capacities (250GB and 160GB); sports 8MB of cache memory, supports a SATA 3Gbps interface, and spins at 5400rpm.
The Mometus Thin uses the same type of cable and ports as a regular SATA 2.5-inch hard drive. This means it will also fit in any application where a 9.5mm hard drive is used. This makes it possible for users to upgrade their existing storage by themselves.
The new Momentus Thin 2.5-inch SATA hard drives will be available in January, with the 250GB version costing only $55. It's unclear how much the 160GB version will cost, but it will obviously be cheaper than its larger counterpart.
Tom and Rafe talk about the gadgets they've been using, like Windows Home Server, a Canon printer, and the PS3 as a Blu-ray player.
Listen now: Download today's podcast
Subscribe with iTunes (audio)
Subscribe with iTunes (video)
Subscribe with RSS (audio)
Subscribe with RSS (video)
... Read more
Tom and Rafe discuss life with Windows 7, Entourage, Seagate hard drives, Ubuntu and more.
Listen now: Download today's podcast
Subscribe with iTunes (audio)
Subscribe with iTunes (video)
Subscribe with RSS (audio)
Subscribe with RSS (video)
... Read more
If you're new to the whole USB media player category, it goes something like this: storage brands like Western Digital, Seagate, and Iomega are looking for ways to tap into the growing number of consumers who have multimedia files stored on their computers and want to bring them to their TVs without much fuss. Of course, game consoles such as the PS3 and Xbox 360 offer similar functionality as part of their extensive repertoire (as do some Blu-ray players), but products like Seagate's FreeAgent Theater+ Media Player are targeting a more price-conscious consumer who doesn't want--or need--to deal with a full-fledged console.
The model we tested is the "plus" version of the Theater HD, and it addresses many of the complaints we had about the early version that was released in April 2009. Instead of just offering a component video connection, the Theater+ adds HDMI with 1080p output (for easier hookup to an HDTV and higher maximum resolution), an Ethernet connection (for streaming digital media files over a network), and better file support (it reads more file formats). Like its predecessor, this model comes in a bare-bones "bring your own drive" version ($150 list), as well as one that includes a 500GB FreeAgent Go drive that slides into a slot at the front of the unit and lists for $289. Any Free Agent Go drive, regardless of capacity, fits into the unit just fine, and the drive can be formatted for Windows PCs or Macs (NTFS, HFS+, or FAT all work).
On Sale Now: $129.99 - $172.41
View the latest prices for Seagate FreeAgent Theater+
On Sale Now: $239.95 - $249.99
View the latest prices for Seagate FreeAgent Theater+ (500GB)
Seagate has been busy at work. A day after it started shipping the first SATA 6Gbps hard drive, it now is shipping enterprise hard drives with self-encrypting features.
(Credit:
Seagate)
The hard drive maker announced Tuesday the worldwide availability of the Seagate Secure Self-Encrypting Drive (SED) option across its portfolio of enterprise-class hard drives. The products that come with this option include the Savvio (both the 15K.2 and 10K.3 versions), Constellation, and Cheetah 15K.7 drives.
According to Seagate, these enterprise-class products are the company's first-to-market drives with the SED technology, designed to deliver transparent security features for servers and high-end storage systems.
The SED technology offers complete data protection against information breaches that can occur in drives and systems that have been repurposed, decommissioned, disposed of, sent for repair, misplaced, or stolen. As an example of how easy date exposure takes place, Seagate revealed that 90 percent of hard drives returned for warranty purposes still contain readable data. This will not be the case with those that have SED, on which the data would not be readable without proper credentials.
According to Seagate, other than the security, the Seagate SED's encryption engine matches the full interface speed of the drive and therefore drive performance does not suffer when the encryption is turned on. The company's disk encryption technology is also supported by the security protocol developed through the Trusted Computing Group (TCG). This means it is compatible with a wide range of devices and major storage system providers.
These new self-encrypting drives are available only to Seagate's enterprise clients. It's unclear how much they cost.
Six months after showing off the demo, Seagate announced Monday that it is now shipping what it says is the word's first 3.5-inch 6Gbps 2TB hard drive.
The drive is based on the third generation of the Serial ATA (SATA) standard, roughly called SATA3. The majority of existing hard drives use the SATA2 standard that caps at 3Gbps. Theoretically, the new 6Gbps standard's throughput could be fast enough to transfer the entire contents of a CD (about 800MB) in just one second.
The new 6Gbps 2TB Barracuda XT hard drive from Seagate.
(Credit: Seagate)The new hard drive is called Barracuda XT, and it belongs to the company's mainstream line of desktop hard drives. It spins at 7200rpm and boasts 64MB of cache memory, as opposed to the 16MB or 32MB of most existing hard drives. It is a four-platter drive with an areal density of 368 gigabits per square inch.
Of course, to take advance of the new 6Gbps throughput speed, the Barracuda XT needs to be installed in a computer with a 6Gbps SATA controller. The good news is that's also available now.
According to Marvell, a maker of hard drive controllers, the first SATA 6Gbps controller is now incorporated in high-end motherboards from Asus and Gigabyte, such as the Asus P7P55D Premium or the GA-P55-Extreme. There will soon also be expansion cards that add the new controller to existing computers.
However, the new drive is backward-compatible with previous versions of the SATA standard, including the SATA 1.5Gbps and SATA2 (3Gbps). This means you will be able to use it with your current computer at the speed of the current controller. Nonetheless, it's predicted that by the end of next year, the new SATA3 will be the mainstream standard that replaces the existing SATA2.
According to Seagate, the new Barracuda XT hard drive is ideal for high-performance desktops, low-cost servers, and external storage devices.
Together with the Barracuda XT, Seagate is also introducing Seagate SeaTool software, which allows for optimizing the drive configuration and tuning it for performance by sacrificing some capacity. For example, users can use the tool to format the 2TB drive into a 1TB drive that offers much faster performance.
The new Barracuda XT 2TB 6Gbps hard drive is available now and costs $299, which is the same price as other 2TB 3Gbps hard drives currently on the market.
Rafe and Tom talk about the long-term use of gadgets like TiVo, the MiFi, and more. We even get a road test report on FreeNAS from Dave the psychologist!
Listen now: Download today's podcast
Subscribe with iTunes (audio)
Subscribe with iTunes (video)
Subscribe with RSS (audio)
Subscribe with RSS (video)
... Read more
Seagate's DockStar can support up to four USB drives
(Credit: Seagate)Do you want to turn a USB hard drive into a cheap, easy network-attached storage device? Seagate's DockStar is designed to let you do just that. Like the preceding Dock+ model, the DockStar can host a FreeAgent Go drive in its cradle, plus up to three other USB drives. However, instead of linking to your PC via USB, the DockStar uses its Ethernet port to live on your home network.
Network access is enabled via technology Seagate has licensed from Pogoplug--in other words, it's just a Seagate-skinned version of Pogoplug's interface. That's a good thing, since Pogoplug's standalone product is exceptionally simple to set up and easy to use.
The system offers a Web interface for accessing the drive's files from any computer (on your home network, or worldwide via the Internet). The Web interface works on any Web browser, it requires no software installation, and lets you set specific folders for others to access, as well as publish RSS feeds of your files to various social networking sites (Twitter, Facebook, MySpace). Alternately, you can download Pogoplug's software plug-ins for mapping the DockStar to a drive letter on Windows, Mac, and Linux machines. Even better, Pogoplug offers a free iPhone app that lets you access files via iPhones and iPod Touch handhelds.
On the downside, Seagate is charging $30 per year for the capability to access the drive from outside your home network (after one year of free access). That contrasts with Pogoplug's standalone product, which requires no fees. With DockStar and Pogoplug both costing $99, we'd be inclined to go with Pogoplug's instead. That said, Seagate is planning to add SMB drive support to the DockStar via a future firmware update. That feature--not currently available on Pogoplug's standalone product--should allow the DockStar drives to be accessible via non-PC DLNA-compatible network devices, including Seagate's own FreeAgent Theater+.
The Seagate DockStar is available as of Wednesday. (The Pogoplug has been available since early 2009.)
On Sale Now: $69.99 - $103.60
View the latest prices for Seagate FreeAgent DockStar
The new FreeAgent Theater+ from Seagate.
(Credit: Seagate)Seagate on Tuesday announced the FreeAgent Theater+ HD media player. The device enables users to take digital-media content from their PCs and play it on their televisions. All the content is controlled with an included remote.
The FreeAgent Theater+ connects to USB-attached storage drives through two USB ports. Once Seagate's device is connected to a PC, users can load the attached drive with movies, videos, music, and pictures. The FreeAgent Theater+ sports both HDMI and Component output, allowing users to watch up to 1080p content on their HDTV. It also has composite inputs for those with standard-definition televisions.
Although it works with any drive, the FreeAgent Theater+ is designed to work with Seagate's FreeAgent Go portable drives. Those drives can be slid into the device's dock, making it a bit more convenient to transfer the device.
To make it easier to transfer files, the FreeAgent Theater+ can connect to a home network via its Ethernet port. According to Seagate, it intends to release a USB wireless adapter in October to enable users to connect to their home networks wirelessly. The adapter will support 802.11n connectivity and cost $69.99.
Seagate's new player features several video formats, including H.264, MPEG-1, MPEG-4, DivX HD, and Xvid HD. It accepts AAC, MP3, FLAC, WMA, OGG, and more on the audio side.
Whether or not Seagate's new product can fix some of its past mistakes is still unknown. The company's previous device, the Seagate FreeAgent Theater, was the lowest-rated USB-ready digital-media player in a CNET Reviews roundup from April. Competing products from Iomega and Western Digital scored higher.
The Seagate FreeAgent Theater+ is available now for preorder at $149.99. For $289.99, consumers can pick up the FreeAgent Theater+ and a 500GB FreeAgent Go drive.
CNET plans to have an official review of the FreeAgent Theater+ later this month.
Don Reisinger is a technology columnist who has written about everything from HDTVs to computers to Flowbee Haircut Systems. Don is a member of the CNET Blog Network, and posts at The Digital Home. He is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure.
(Credit:
Seagate/MusicSkins)
Finally, hard drives have cottoned on to the whole personalization deal and realized that color choices are not enough. Seagate's Pimp My Drive initiative is partnering with MusicSkins to offer vinyl skins to dress up your storage drive, just like notebooks and handsets.
There's a bounty of skins--about 161--to pick from at MusicSkin's Seagate page, for what seems to be $20 each. Or you can get a skin from the cryptkeeper when you're buying a FreeAgent Go drive. From Bob Marley to John Lennon to Adult Swim and even personal photos and images, the good thing is these skins are removable so you can always indulge in a different custom look anytime.
But if you're feeling cheap or creative, or both, you can always do it yourself. Just remember that hard drives get hot with use, and that homebrewed adhesive may well go from pimp to limp.
(Source: Crave Asia)
