Analysis

The Hitachi HDS721010KLA330 blazed through all the benchmarks. As you can see from the HDTach benchmark results, the Hitach PMR drive is way faster than its counterpart Seagate by a considerable margin.

Also, the Drive Index in the SiSoft Sandra File System benchmark pegs Seagate at 66 MB/s, while the Hitachi scores an amazing 83 MB/s.

But we must make a note of the fact that the Seagate 750 GB PMR drive only had a 16 MB buffer, while the Hitachi 1TB PMR drive has a 32 MB buffer. Also, the Seagate drive was based on the first generation PMR techniques, whereas this Hitachi drive uses more refined second generation PMR techniques. This suggests that further refinements in the PMR technology can make the drives go even faster.

The drive got a little hot after around an hour of usage, but not close enough to institute a failure; though I wouldn't suggest anyone to touch the drive surface after using for such a period of time. A HDD cooler wouldn't be a bad investment for this.

Conclusion

The Hitachi HDS721010KLA330 1TB HDD is available for Rs.18,500 with a 5-year warranty. Considering the price/performance ratio and the novelty of being a 1TB drive, the premium is justified, but it will take a lot of price cuts before it becomes a more popular choice for the average consumer.

Test unit sourced from: Webershandwick.