WD today released the WD Scorpio Black 7200 RPM 2.5-inch SATA hard drive (320GB) for notebooks while Seagate's Savvio 10K.3 (300GB) targets enerprise servers.

WD Scorpio Black

Western Digital is now shipping its new line of WD Scorpio Black 7200 RPM 2.5-inch SATA (Serial ATA) hard drives for high-performance notebook computers and portable storage devices. Available in capacities up to 320 GB, WD Scorpio Black hard drives are designed with ruggedness and data-protection features that actively monitor and protect data.

The drives combine desktop-class 7200 RPM spin speed with a SATA 3 Gb/s interface and 16 MB cache. They are also feature IntelliSeek technology that optimises power consumption, noise and vibration. WD's SecurePark technology 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.

WD's ShockGuard technology protects the drive mechanics and platter surfaces from shocks during shipping and handling and in daily operation.

As an added layer of protection, if the drive (or the system it's in) is dropped while in use, WD's free-fall sensor detects that the drive is falling and, in less than 200 milliseconds, parks the head off the disks to help prevent damage and data loss.

Last but not least, WD's WhisperDrive technology combines seeking algorithms for quiet operation.

MSRP for the WD Scorpio Black hard drives are up to $249.00 USD (depending on capacity and features).

Savvio 10K.3 Enterprise Drive

Seagate introduced the Savvio 10K.3 hard drive (10,000 RPM). This latest generation of 2.5-inch drive offers 70% lower power and greater than 60% performance density over traditional 3.5-inch drives. The Savvio 10K.3 drive offers 300GB of capacity, reliability of 1.6 million hours MTBF, and a SAS 2.0 (6Gb/sec data rate) interface.

Seagate claims that the Savvio 10K.3 drive offers tremendous improvements over 3.5-inch 300GB 15K-rpm drives including a 70% power savings. Savvio 10K.3 performance is even greater at a system level, delivering a 60% improvement in IOPS density, while also providing at least twice the capacity.

The drive will be offered with self-encrypting FDE technology. PowerTrim technology also is integrated into the Savvio 10K.3 drive and manages drive power consumption during idle activity.

General product availability is planned for the second half of calendar year 2008.