Western Digital's Raptor X

Earlier this week Western Digital announced the availability of their latest Raptor drive, with a capacity of 150GB thanks to its two 74GB platters. The 150GB Raptor is available today with a MSRP of $299.

At CES, Western Digital announced a second version of the 150GB drive called the Raptor X. Mechanically the Raptor X is identical to the first 150GB drive, the only difference is that the Raptor X features a window letting you see the spinning platters, read/write heads and actuator arm in action.

Other than the window, the rest of the specs of the drive are identical to its non-flashy brother. You get a 16MB buffer, 5 year warranty and of course, a 10,000RPM spindle speed. The Raptor X should be available in about 2 weeks for $349 while the normal 150GB version is available now for $299.

You can see a picture of the drive in action above, although for better pictures and more information on the new Raptor X you should head over to WD's site dedicated to the drive - www.wdraptorx.com.

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  • Clauzii - Monday, January 9, 2006 - link

    Also here - to me it actually looks at it started happening after the last WindowsUpdate I had (4days ago - WMF-Fix?)

    Also IE6+XP SP2
  • BladeVenom - Monday, January 9, 2006 - link

    Screw Blue-ray discs, Sony can keep their DRM, and rootkits. I think I'll get Samsung's "Hyper DVD." Then I'll just wait till HD-DVD is cracked before I switch to a new format.
  • GTMan - Monday, January 9, 2006 - link

    There is a 0.85" drive with a nearly identically sized drive beside it that is 1.8". Number must be wrong. Also one is 4 GB and the other is 80 GB. Maybe that should have been 8 GB.
  • Tanclearas - Monday, January 9, 2006 - link

    Ok. What exactly is so great about the iPod interface? I have used it, and many other MP3 players, and fail to see how the iPod interface is so much better than most other players on the market. In fact, I have never understood why people believe the iPod is so different or so much better than a lot of its competitors. It wasn't the first, nor do I think it is "the best". I don't think I've seen any player that I could classify as "the best". Most seem to have all of the appropriate capabilities, with buttons/controls laid out in an effective way.

    The only thing I can say is that I have indeed used some players that had poor designs or build quality. In that regard, the iPod is better than some players out there, but is Apple building some sort of brand loyalty by secretly including some narcotic drug that gets delivered via the ear buds?
  • Questar - Monday, January 9, 2006 - link

    Define "best".

    I define best as easiest to use, no manual reading required.
  • Tanclearas - Tuesday, January 10, 2006 - link

    So buttons labelled with the standard icons for Play, Pause, Stop, Skip Forward, Skip Back, Rewind, Fast Forward, and a jog dial or D-Pad for menu navigation are too complicated for you? I've seen several designs like that. Others try to "copy" Apple's circular layout, and that is where many of the poor models that I mentioned fail. In some of those "copies", they use poor quality buttons, or the buttons are just too small.

    Come to think of it, Apple's touch-sensitive circle is more annoying than helpful.
  • AnnihilatorX - Monday, January 9, 2006 - link

    SED, LED LCD, OLED, Plasma
    Not mentioning glassesless 3D displays. Too much is going on

    Typo in Last bit:
    "some piece of mind to those still holding on to their older analog sets."

    piece -> peace
  • Aquila76 - Monday, January 9, 2006 - link

    Rmember when buying a TV was solely size based?
    'I'd like a 32" TV please.'
    'OK, here are some by Samsung, Toshiba, etc.'

    Now it's like trying to choose regular, free-range, organic, etc. at the grocery.
    I JUST WANT TV AND STEAK PEOPLE!!!!
  • oneils - Thursday, January 12, 2006 - link

    Lol! Since I'm the youngest guy in the office, I inevitably get asked all sorts of techie questions. One of my colleagues asked for advice on purchasing an HDTV. I looked at cnet.com's guide to HDTV and was blown away. Where have a I been these past two-three years? I had no idea how many options there were: plasma; edtv; lcd; crt rear projection; lcd rear projection...and probably a couple I am missing.

    I had no idea what to tell him, other than to stick to major brands (sony, samsung, panasonic etc...). I no my way around computers (I build my own rigs), but I only have a 36" CRT SDTV and was completely lost when I ventured into HDTV territory.

  • Aquila76 - Monday, January 9, 2006 - link

    Anybody able to use the forums today? I was able to log in, but when I try to go to any forums I've commented in, I get this (both Firefox and IE):

    Server Error in '/' Application.
    Column 'vchlicensekey' does not belong to table qGetLicenses.
    Description: An unhandled exception occurred during the execution of the current web request. Please review the stack trace for more information about the error and where it originated in the code.

    Exception Details: System.ArgumentException: Column 'vchlicensekey' does not belong to table qGetLicenses.

    Source Error:

    An unhandled exception was generated during the execution of the current web request. Information regarding the origin and location of the exception can be identified using the exception stack trace below.

    Stack Trace:

    [ArgumentException: Column 'vchlicensekey' does not belong to table qGetLicenses.]
    System.Data.DataRow.get_Item(String columnName) +121
    FuseTalk.API.InitialiseKeys() +324
    FuseTalk.API..ctor(String c) +237
    FuseTalkNet.Forum.Page_Load(Object sender, EventArgs e) +351
    System.EventHandler.Invoke(Object sender, EventArgs e) +0
    System.Web.UI.Control.OnLoad(EventArgs e) +67
    System.Web.UI.Control.LoadRecursive() +35
    System.Web.UI.Page.ProcessRequestMain() +750


    Version Information: Microsoft .NET Framework Version:1.1.4322.2032; ASP.NET Version:1.1.4322.2032

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