Hitachi 7K400 Deskstar
Four-hundred expletive deleted gigs of storage!^
H
itachi’s all-new Deskstar 7K400 continues the company’s dominance in
the 7,200rpm market by not only being the fastest drive of its kind, but
also the largest—by a wide margin. The jump from the 250GB 7K250
to the 400GB 7K400 was made possible by adding two platters to the drive’s
design, bringing the total to five aluminum platters with 10 read/write heads.
But Hitachi didn’t stop there. It also added a new feature dubbed Rotational
Vibration Safeguard (RVS) technology that detects excessive vibration in
multi-drive environments
and adjusts its operation
accordingly to ensure
data integrity. The drive
also comes with a new
“latched” Serial ATA
connector to ensure a
stronger connection to
the drive. Finally, the
drive includes the now
de rigueur 8MB buffer
and fluid dynamic bearing
(FDB) spindle motor, which
reduces operational noise
and improves reliability.
During testing, the drive
scored almost exactly
the same as its 250GB
counterpart, which isn’t
surprising as it shares
the same internal technology. The 400GB drive performed a smidge faster than
the 250GB version in a few benchmarks—a representative from Hitachi says
this is due to the additional read/write heads afforded by the five-platter design.
Considering that the 7K250 was the fastest 7,200rpm around, this is a good thing.
When all is said and done, we look at this drive and ask, “What’s not to
love?” It’s the fastest drive in its class and has a 150GB capacity advantage over
its competitors. It’s also avail-
able in both PATA and SATA
configurations, and comes with
a three-year warranty. If it had
a 10,000rpm rotational velocity,
this would easily be a perfect
10—and then some.
—JOSH NOREMHuge, fast, with enterprise-class components
and features.DESKSTARPORN STAR
Has to be a 10K drive to receive a 10 verdict.$410, http://www.hitachigst.comMAXIMUMPC VERDICT 9
China. And like Red China, the 7K400 rules the land
of 7,200rpm drives with an iron fist.iPod Mini
The world’s best MP3 player is back—in a small way
Y
ou may have already guessed that the iPod Mini is a smaller
version of the classic iPod, so no surprise there. But who would
have thought that Apple could deliver a miniaturized version of the
world’s greatest MP3 player that not only retains the ease-of-use and
grace of the original, but actually improves upon it? That’s what those
crazy kittens from Cupertino have done.
The Big Idea was to relocate the four control buttons on the original
iPod to the same surface as the touch-sensitive “click wheel.” The Mini’s
size allows you to cradle the player in your palm and navigate menus,
raise or lower the volume, and even play games using only your thumb. It’s
comfortable, efficient, and a breeze to operate.
The firmware retains all the goodies from the original iPod such as a
contact database, the ability to display downloaded text files, a calendar,
and four games. Apple demonstrates its characteristic design polish
with elegant touches, like allowing you to play a game of Solitaire while
still listening to your tunes. During testing we noticed none of the crackling
sounds that have been reported on the Internet.
The rechargeable lithium-ion battery is the same kind used in other
MP3 players and handhelds, and lasted just 10 minutes shy of eight hours
during testing. Only two compromises are evident: The iPod Mini doesn’t
come with a dock for recharging the battery and uploading files (though
you can buy one separately), and the internal hard drive is limited to 4GB.
We’ve heard endless debate over whether the 4GB Mini is worth $250
when you can buy a 15GB classic iPod for just $50 more, but it all boils
down to whether you’d rather
have a tiny player or a larger
one that can carry the bulk of
your music collection.
If you still have a hard
time justifying the price,
we recommend going to an
Apple store and fondling one
for yourself.
—LOGAN DECKERIf hard drives were nations, the 400GB Deskstar would be
China. And like Red China, the 7K400 rules the landReviewsReviews
To the chagrin of prim
elderly folks and television
evangelists, the “mini” is
back in style again.$410, http://www.hitachigst.comTo the chagrin of prim
elderly folks and television
evangelists, the “mini” is
back in style again.The iPod Mini—amazingly—is an improvement
over the dazzling original.FUJIALAR
Capacity is limited to 4GB, and you don’t get a
sassy-looking dock.
$250, http://www.ipod.comMAXIMUMPC VERDICT 9
JUNE 2004 MAXIMUMPC 91
HD Tach
Sequential read (MB/s) 45.8 47.5
Burst speed (MB/s) 112.8 113
Random access (ms) 12 11.9
SYSmark
Office Productivity 169 168
Content Creation 283 284
H2Benchw
Random access (ms) 12.4 12
Burst read (MB/s) 111 116
Sustained read avg. (MB/s) 45.4 46.8
Sustained write avg. (MB/s) 44.8 44.7
Application index * 25.3 24.6Best scores are bolded. *The application index is meant to provide
an indication of “real world” desktop performance in Windows XP. It
is based on a prerecorded script of heavy hard drive activity using six
popular desktop applications. The index score is the geometric mean of
all six tests’ results.
BENCHMARKS 7K400 7K250
MAX OUT YOUR
IPOD FOR FREE
Owners of the original iPod or
the iPod Mini should pay a visit
to http://www.ipodlounge.com. Here you’ll
find tons of free software to
tweak your player, including tools
for syncing your Outlook contacts
and downloading RSS feeds to
your iPod. Olé!