WD Ships 750 GB Desktop Hard Drives Incorporating New Technologies for Cool, Fast, Reliable Performance

New WD Caviar® Hard Drive Implements Perpendicular Magnetic Recording (PMR) Technology

LAKE FOREST, Calif.-Western Digital Corp. (NYSE: WDC) today announced it is shipping in volume high-capacity 750 GB Serial ATA (SATA) WD Caviar® SE16 desktop-class hard drives. Ideal for data-intensive applications, high-performance computing and multimedia systems, the WD Caviar SE16 750 GB drives deliver high performance with 3 Gb/s transfer rate, 16 MB cache and Native Command Queuing (NCQ).

“WD knows that there is nothing more important than our customers’ data,” said Don Bennett, WD vice president and general manager of desktop storage. “Uniquely, our new desktop hard drive brings together SecurePark™ for better shock characteristics, StableTrac™ for better vibration performance, and IntelliSeek™ to reduce power consumption. These proven features will further WD’s lead as the most reliable desktop products.”

Trusted Reliability
High-capacity, reliable hard drives are of the utmost importance to desktop users who are running multimedia systems, advanced computing, and other data-intensive applications. WD Caviar desktop hard drives incorporate advanced features that contribute to a cool, fast, and reliable computing environment.

WD Caviar SE16 750 GB hard drives include WD’s SecurePark technology, which parks the recording heads off the disk surface during spin up, spin down and when the drive is not operating. Unlike drives without SecurePark, the feature improves non-operational shock tolerance by ensuring that the recording heads never touch the disk surface, reducing head and surface wear and enhancing long-term reliability.

Used on WD high-capacity hard drives and to further ensure reliability, WD’s StableTrac technology was incorporated. StableTrac’s motor shaft is secured at both ends to reduce system-induced vibration and stabilize platters for accurate tracking during read and write operations. Most current hard drive designs feature motors that are only attached on the bottom of the hard drive, which can cause missed read revolutions. StableTrac allows end-user data to be retrieved fast without missing revolutions.

Smart Power Reduction
In addition to the reliability properties of WD’s SecurePark and StableTrac technologies, the WD Caviar SE16 750 GB hard drives use a unique technology to reduce power consumption. WD’s IntelliSeek technology proactively calculates an optimum seek speed to eliminate hasty movement of the actuator that produces noise and requires power, which is common in other drives. With IntelliSeek, the actuator’s movement is controlled so the head reaches the next target sector just in time to read the next piece of information, rather than rapidly accelerating and waiting for the drive rotation to catch up. This smooth motion reduces power usage by more than 60 percent compared with standard drives, as well as quiets seek operation and lowers vibration. Lower power leads to a reduction in heat generation, resulting in greater long-term reliability.

For a demonstration on IntelliSeek, visit the WD Web site at http://www.wdc.com/en/flash/index.asp?family=intelliseek

Perpendicular Magnetic Recording (PMR)
With PMR technology, the magnetization of each data bit is aligned vertically to the spinning disk, rather than longitudinally as has been the case in hard drive technology for decades. PMR enables more data on a given disk than is possible with conventional longitudinal recording, and provides a platform for future expansion of hard drive densities.

Price and Availability
WD Caviar SE16 750 GB (model WD7500AAKS) hard drives may be ordered on the company’s online store (www.westerndigital.com) and through select distributors and resellers. Manufacturer’s Suggest Retail Price (MSRP) for the WD Caviar SE16 750 GB is $249 USD. More information about WD Caviar desktop drives may be found on the company’s Web site at http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.asp?driveid=311.