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WD's 1TB VelociRaptor HDD gets reviewed: substantial gains, moderate price
Western Digital has expanded its line of desktop-grade VelociRaptors to include a 1TB model that's available now for $320, but those kidding themselves with that whole "250GB is enough" thing can get in for as little as $160. Top-level specs include a 10,000RPM spindle rate and a SATA 6Gb/s interface housed within a 3.5-inch heat sink -- useful for lessening the burden of the drive's thermal output on the rest of the machine. Storage Review's tests reveal that sequential read and write transfer speeds top out around 206MB/s, thermal dissipation is excellent with low power consumption, and that random access has improved compared with its 600GB predecessor. They consider the new HDD to be a "very appealing value proposition" and "a blend of high performance, storage, capacity, and low cost." Hot Hardware discovered virtually identical numbers with their tests, but wasn't quite as forgiving when it comes to the cost-per-GB versus 7200RPM hard drives. However, they call this VelociRaptor the "fastest HDD yet" at "nearly double the capacity of previous" model. You can find even more stats and impressions to chew on at the sources below.
OCZ RevoDrive Hybrid review roundup: a speedy and spacious storage solution
Ever since we spent some time with OCZ's RevoDrive Hybrid back at Computex, we eagerly awaited its arrival so that it could be put through its paces. Well, the time has come for the $500 storage mongrel to face the music and for us to find out if it adds up to more than the sum of its SSD and HDD parts. Hot Hardware found the RevoDrive Hybrid delivered on its promise of mind-blowing peak transfer speeds of almost 1GBps, with performance that could only be matched by dual SATA III SSDs in a RAID 0 setup. Everyone spoke well of the Dataplex software that manages the RevoDrive's caching, as it dutifully maxed out performance once it learned usage patterns. TRIM support was a welcome feature, but all noted the niggle that it must be used as the system boot device, so it can't pull duty as secondary storage. All in all, the consensus is that while the RevoDrive Hybrid may be too pricey for some, it's a darn good deal for the performance it provides. Of course, you don't have to take our word for it, so dig into the full reviews at the sources below.
OCZ RevoDrive Hybrid merges 100GB SSD with 1TB HDD for $499
We heard about OCZ's clever crossbreed a few months ago, but couldn't be sure about pricing for this premium model. Turns out, it's significantly less than we'd guessed: $499 for a 100GB SSD and 1TB HDD happily united on a single PCI Express card. Yup, that's still a heck of a lot more than the $300 or so it'd cost to pick up a SandForce-controlled 120GB solid state beauty along with a separate 1TB SATA 6GB/s hard drive. The comparison isn't entirely fair, though, because OCZ claims its combo boosts overall performance by caching both "hot" and "cold" data, which is automatically organized between the SSD and HDD, on a single card with up to 910MB/s bandwidth and 120,000 IOPS. Nevertheless, it'll take some real-world benchmarking to determine whether the promised speed gain is worth our wages. More details in the PR after the break.
CiragoTV platinum CMC3000 network multimedia center announced to join set top box masses
Not satisfied with the current rat pack of set top media players flooding the market like the Popbox, Boxee Box, AppleTV, or WD Elements Play? Then perhaps the CiragoTV platinum CMC3000 might tickle your fancy. Yes it lacks brand name recognition, but it's no slouch in the specs department and supports all manner of codecs, 1080p playback, UPnP networking, timeshift recording, and even includes a built-in NAS with a BitTorrent client. Connectivity wise, the box features an HDMi output, two USB ports for tacking on additional storage, and a media card reader that also takes MemorySticks for you die-hard Sony fans. Though it's sold in 500GB for $229, considering the 1TB sizes is only $249, we're not sure who'd balk at coughing up an additional $20 for double the storage. Remember that's twice the space for Voltron folks. For more details watch the PR video after the break.
Toshiba delays RD-A1 HD DVD recorder launch
Lately it's been the Blu-ray camp cruelly torturing us with product delays, but in a refreshing change of pace, today it's rival format HD DVD's main proponent Toshiba announcing that a next-gen optical disc device won't be shipping as scheduled. Unlike Sony's procrastination in releasing the PS3 and BDP-S1, though, Toshiba claims that it only needs two more weeks to get its RD-A1 HD DVD recorder out the door, citing inadequate inventory stemming from component shortages as the reason for putting off tomorrow's scheduled launch. Since this model, with its 1TB storage capacity and OTA digital tuner, is only headed for Japan anyway, the delay probably doesn't concern the vast majority of our American readers -- nor most Japanese, for that matter, as the $3,500 pricetag will likely dissuade all but the most fervent early-adopters. [Via HDBeat]
