[Jason Dunn]

http://www.maxtor.com/Maxtorhome.htm

Just when you thought your hard drive was the biggest on the block, Maxtor lays the smack down with a massive 320 GB hard drive coming out in early 2003. And we're finally seeing some competition in the 8 MB cache arena - they'll have a drive with 8 MB of cache, 7200 RPM, and a meagre 250 GB. The more I work with digital video, the more I realize that there truly is no such thing as too much storage. Bring it on Maxtor, bring it on...

"MaXLine™ drives are ultra-reliable 5400 RPM and 7200 RPM ATA hard drives with capacities up to 320GB. They're designed, engineered and tested to stand up to demanding commercial and enterprise applications. With a mean time to failure of more than 1 million hours, it's easy to see why Maxtor supports them with a 3-year limited warranty. The 3.5-inch MaXLine II and MaXLine Plus II drives are ideal for network attached storage and other near-line storage applications that were previously handled by slower, lower-capacity tape and optical storage media."

[Jason Dunn]

http://www.maxtor.com/Maxtorhome.htm

Just when you thought your hard drive was the biggest on the block, Maxtor lays the smack down with a massive 320 GB hard drive coming out in early 2003. And we're finally seeing some competition in the 8 MB cache arena - they'll have a drive with 8 MB of cache, 7200 RPM, and a meagre 250 GB. The more I work with digital video, the more I realize that there truly is no such thing as too much storage. Bring it on Maxtor, bring it on...

"MaXLine™ drives are ultra-reliable 5400 RPM and 7200 RPM ATA hard drives with capacities up to 320GB. They're designed, engineered and tested to stand up to demanding commercial and enterprise applications. With a mean time to failure of more than 1 million hours, it's easy to see why Maxtor supports them with a 3-year limited warranty. The 3.5-inch MaXLine II and MaXLine Plus II drives are ideal for network attached storage and other near-line storage applications that were previously handled by slower, lower-capacity tape and optical storage media."

[Brad Adrian]

I am suddenly suffering from extreme storage envy!

[Ed Hansberry]

So, doesn XP now recognize these big honkers with XP1? I know that SP0 had problems above 120MB or so on a single drive, regardless of partitioning.

[T-Will]

WOW! That's awesome! I just picked up a WD 80 GB with 8 MB cache because I think my current WD 80 GB drive is failing (it will make random clicking noises and will randomly go into standby for a few seconds then power back up causing a hiccup in Windows). I've got one question though, is there a way to check within XP if the ATA/100 is enabled on my drive?

[Bob Anderson]

Wow... last Christmas, I bought a 75GB IBM DeskStar and thought I'd never fill it up. Well, I haven't used all the space, but I think I need a 320 GB drive anyway!!

[Rirath]

I'm running an 80 gig 7200 Maxtor in this comp, and a 80 gig 5400 Maxtor in a networked comp. (along with a 15 gig Quantum) When I first started running Maxtors over drives like Western Digital, I was laughed at. But I think by now Maxtor has proven their worth, and I'm glad to see them keeping the standard high. Can't say I have any immediate plans to pick up the new drive, but glad to see it none the less.

[Jason Dunn]

Originally Posted by Ed Hansberry

So, doesn XP now recognize these big honkers with XP1? I know that SP0 had problems above 120MB or so on a single drive, regardless of partitioning.

SP1 adds support for Serial ATA (SATA), but you also need a controller card. Bummer, because I just got that Shuttle SS51G and I won't be able to use these massive hard drives in it unless I take up my only PCI slot for a controller card. Oh well - my 120 GB hard drive is quite big for now at the moment. :-)

[Jason Dunn]

Originally Posted by djtipmothee

...is there a way to check within XP if the ATA/100 is enabled on my drive?

Nope, ATA is all BIOS-level stuff. You'll have to check the BIOS and see if the drive is in that mode. Assuming that your motherboard supports it, it's automatic though - no need to turn it on.

[st63z]

Not bad, 80GB platters, 8MB, FDB, what's not to like. What's the dealio w/ 1-yr warranty on Maxtor and WD standard lines though (see SR).

Seriously, I expect the MaXLine (especially Plus) will cost a lot more than today's prices, Maxtor can't afford to price them too low (which is too bad for us).

P.S. Heck, even my new IBM Travelstar 40GNX laptop drives have 8MB now (the Toshiba 16MB too expensive)

[bblock]

What's the deal with the big focus on 'near-line storage'? Are these drives substantially slower than the current 7200RPM crop of large (80-120GB) drives? Would you use one for video editing? I recognize they're not SCSI, but still - it seems Maxtor is downplaying the performance of the drives.