I’m eagerly awaiting the arrival of a 256GB SSD to replace the dying Hitachi 250GB HDD in my MacBook Pro, but Western Digital has me thinking twice about going leaner and meaner. WD announced two new 2.5-inch mobile drives this morning in ridiculous capacities. Maybe not ridiculous, but who wouldn’t want a 750GB or 1TB drive in their laptop?!
The WD Scorpio Blue line features a 3 Gb/s transfer rate and WD’s WhisperDrive technology along with ShockGuard and SecurePark. Both models are shipping now through various channels; the 1TB model is currently available in My Passport Essential SE USB drives. The Scorpio Blue 750GB model has a suggested sticker price of $190 while the Scorpio Blue 1TB is a mere $250. The My Passport Essential SE 1 TB portable drive is $299.99 USD and the 750 GB model is $199.99 USD.
• WhisperDrive™ – WD’s exclusive WhisperDrive technology combines state-of-the-art seeking algorithms to produce one of the quietest 2.5-inch drives available.
• ShockGuard™ – Leading-edge ShockGuard technology combines firmware and hardware advancements to meet the highest combined shock tolerance specifications required for mobile and notebook applications.
• SecurePark™ – Parks the recording heads off the disk surface during spin up, spin down and when the drive is off. This ensures the recording head never touches the disk surface, resulting in improved long-term reliability due to less head wear and improved shock tolerance.