Hot
off the Product NEWS
by
Keith Benicek
WD Touts
First 7200RPM 250GB Ext. Combo HDD. Who says ‘Ol
Conservative can’t be Hip?
April 9th, 2003
Lake Forest,
CA., -- Western Digital Corp. (NYSE: WDC) laid the 411 on the cool,
when it expanded its external hard drive product line with the addition
of a Special Edition model. Western Digital's FireWire(R)/USB 2.0 Combo
Special Edition external hard drives are enclosed in a contemporary
clear, light-up case; feature an 8 MB cache; provide the versatility
of dual
interface compatibility; and, with their massive 250 GB capacity, are
the largest capacity 7,200 RPM external hard drives available on the
market. Western Digital's innovative clear case design with modern LED
illumination allows users to see the components within.
"The
market for external hard drives is growing as the demand for high-capacity,
portable storage increases," said John Monroe, a vice president
at Gartner. "Consumer games, movies and other kinds of rich media
will continue to eat up more and more enormous chunks of disk space,
making easily accessible, adjunct storage a common need."
Cognoscente of the trend with gamers and the younger high-powered home-brewed computer builders to use clear computer cases with neon lights and illuminated front panels, traditionally conservative Western Digital has taken a brave move to the Hip side.
We have been testing the already great looking 7200 RPM 200GB External FireWire/USB 2.0 Combo HDD on Macintosh systems for an upcoming “Backup your PC/Mac computer & data” article with excellent results. PC hardware will also be tested for the article in back up and video storage applications. The additional 50GB is not only meaningful for the gamer crowd, but also traditional power users in video and multi media production.
"Western Digital's
new FireWire/USB 2.0 Combo Special Edition hard drives demonstrate the
ongoing commitment of Western Digital's team to provide its customers
with a range of exciting storage options," said Richard E. Rutledge,
vice president of marketing at Western Digital.
Western Digital FireWire/USB 2.0 Combo Special Edition external hard drives are ideal for adding fast, reliable, high-performance storage for desktop users and provide notebook users a cost-effective way to increase their storage capacity through either a FireWire or USB 2.0 port. In addition to providing a convenient solution for backing up an internal hard drive and rather than using multiple CDs or other removable media, WD external drives can be stacked together and routed through a hub, enabling users to add virtually unlimited storage capability. These external hard drives provide hot-swappable storage that can be easily disconnected from a computer and locked up for security or shared from computer to computer.
Availability
and Pricing
Western Digital FireWire/USB 2.0 Combo Special Edition external hard drives
are available at the Company's online
store and initially will be available through CompUSA retail stores.
Broad availability will shortly follow through Western Digital's retail
partners, Internet resellers including catalog partners, and selected
distributors. Manufacturer's suggested retail pricing for Western Digital's
FireWire/USB
2.0 Combo Special Edition 250 GB external hard drives is $449. Complete
retail kit includes FireWire/USB 2.0 Combo Special Edition external hard
drive in clear, light-up case; 6 ft. (1.8m) 6-pin to 6-pin FireWire cable;
6 ft (1.8m) USB 2.0-certified cable; AC adapter with power cord; and Quick
Install Guide.
System Requirements/Compatibility
Western Digital FireWire/USB 2.0 Combo Special Edition external hard drives
are compatible with any computer with an available FireWire or USB 2.0
port; are backwards compatible with existing USB 1.1 ports, using either
Windows(R) 98 SE/ME/2000/XP or Mac(R) OS v9.2.2 or later operating systems;
and are built for Mac OS X. All Western Digital external hard drive products
carry a one-year warranty.
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