Storage Toolkit

World's first transparent hard drive launched

Colin Barker ZDNet.co.uk

Published: 09 Jan 2006 12:15 GMT

Aimed at appealing to the geek in all technology folk, Western Digital launched its Raptor X 150GB serial ATA drive at the Conusmer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, complete with a see-through top to display the inner workings of this modern, high-capacity disk .

With a rotation speed of 10,000 RPM, a 16 MB cache and Native Command Queuing (NCQ), the Raptor X does offer advanced performance and Western Digital argues that the system's virtues should be displayed for all to see.

So as the drive whirrs and the actuators do their own special dance, not a moment is lost as the admiring geeks can gaze at the full marvel of their new $349 (£197) drive in all its glory.

They only disappointment they might face is that if the Raptor X is modestly shielded away under the covers of a grey system box, they won't be able to see it.

Western Digital claims it is "responding to [the] widespread popularity" of the Raptor "among performance enthusiasts", as well as displaying "a radically progressive style for PC and Mac owners who modify or enhance their computing systems, thrive on high-performance gaming or otherwise demand the most extreme components available".

As the company points out, as "the only major components inside a PC with moving parts, all hard drives until now have been sealed with a solid metal top. WD Raptor X features a large clear lens embedded in the top through which the read and write action of the drive's head and disk assembly can be viewed while the drive delivers data, audio and video content and games to PC and Mac performance enthusiasts in just milliseconds".