New York (NY) – Following Hitachi GST, Samsung is the second company to offer a 3.5” hard drive with a capacity of 1 TB. However, Samsung offers 67% more storage density per disk.

Samsung’s new F1 series of 3.5” hard drives is yet another sign how serious the company takes its increasingly aggressive move into the mass storage market. The availability of the firm’s new 1 TB drive trails Hitachi’s 1 TB model by a few weeks, but Samsung already has hit a storage density that could make hard drives with a capacity of more than 1.5 TB a reality in the not too distant future.

The 7200 rpm F1 drive uses only three platters, which store 334 GB each, translating into a storage density of about 241 Gb/square inch. In comparison, Hitachi’s 1 TB drive uses five 200 GB platters with a density of 144 Gb/square inch. Seagate recently revealed a single platter 250 GB 3.5” drive with a density of 205 Gb/square inch. While higher storage density and fewer platters typically result in less power consumption of a drive and Samsung noted that its F1 drive is very power efficient, the company did not provide detailed technical specifications of the device.

Samsung said that the 1 TB F1 drive is selling for a suggested retail price of $400.

The company also introduced a Spinpoint 120 GB 1.8” hard drive, which is the form factor that is used in hard drive-based MP3 players such as the video iPod: The device is shipping now and available for $250, the company said.

wow...

Jun 19, 2007 14:40     

I'd like to see some benchmarks for this drive! If its storage density is that much higher, it should be able to smoke Hitachi's drive!
al report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Samsung Just Became a Serious Choice for HDD's

Jun 19, 2007 15:03     

With this 1 TB as their flagship, I think Samsung just became viable competitor against Seagate and WD. Hitachi's 1 TB has 5 platters. How do you even squeeze 5 platters into a 1" height form factor? Also, with 5 vs. 3 platters, the 5'er will be MUCH more prone to damage should you accidentally nudge it. I wonder what the MTBF, operating and nonoperating shock tolerances are for the Samsung.
Cypherdude report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Neeeeed!!!

Jun 19, 2007 15:17     

I want to commemorate samsung for their efforts, obviously their superiority is clear, less power consumption and better data storage density. I can't wait to get my hands on some of these for a new server.
Walter report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

More errors?

Jun 19, 2007 15:41     

Is higher storage densisty per platter more prone to data corruption and error? Drives this size are about storage space and not about speed. If I want speed for my OS drive I will buy a Raptor or something. For storage I want a cool running, long lasting drive that will protect my terrabyte of data (which I'll still find a way to fill up after a few months).
John Doe report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

To John

Jun 19, 2007 16:27     

I don't believe the new drives are any less reliable than yesterdays drives. However, one TB is a WHOLE lot of bits. So just the chance of any bit failing is higher. So RAID 5 is a good way to catch/correct those occitional errors. RAID-5 with 4 drives will give about 3 TB of storage! :D OR, one external TB drive makes a great backup drive. Also, the density of the platters are high, so don't expect 1 TB drives to be slow in any way.

enewmen report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

RE: More Errors?

Jun 19, 2007 16:27     

Higher data densities have been occurring since HDD's were introduced decades ago. They say, with perpendicular recording, HDD's can achieve at least 3 times higher data densities than today. Expect them to release 4 or even 8 TB HDD's in the future. HDD's have built-in CRC data correction circuitry so don't expect any problems. With performance, the higher the density, the faster the throughput. As for temperature and dependability, a 7200 RPM drive will run cooler and longer than a 10K RPM. The only question is Samsung's quality. Are they up to the job of making high quality HDD's? Look at their specs for MTBF and shock tolerances for your answer.

Cypherdude report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

My 74GB Raptor actually runs cooler than 2x 320GB B...

Jun 19, 2007 23:34     

My 74GB Raptor actually runs cooler than 2x 320GB Barracudas.
Jepa report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

2 cents

Jun 20, 2007 08:12     

The main reason for HD failure is mechanical. With higher storage density and with 3 instead of 5 platters I would think that you greatly reduce the chances of mechanical hard drive failure. Less platters = less energy to spin = stress on the spindle motor and less heat. It also means only 3 Read/Write heads which lessens the chance of a head crashing into a platter. I don't think we'll see any less reliability compared to any other 5 platter hard drives. If anything it should be more reliable.

HD report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Second company?

Jun 20, 2007 12:28     

Dustinhome in Sweden sells 1TB drives from Seagate?
granis_1980 report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Samsung has great drives.

Jun 20, 2007 14:20     

I have 6x500, 5x250, and 3x160G. Only had 2 fail, and that was after 2 years of 24/7 use, 2 moves, and constant tweaking. I am thinking that 5x1TB is in my future.
DoctorX report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

why haven't they released a 1.5TB drive?

Jun 21, 2007 09:44     

If they have the chance to one-up Hitachi and everyone else so soon, why not do it? I imagine there's probably something I'm missing here, but would it be that hard to add two more platters to the drive?
al report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

re: why haven't they released a 1.5TB drive

Jun 21, 2007 10:44     

they could... there isnt much market for a 1.5TB drive just yet... so the sales volume will be small. look at the 1TB drives... 2x500GB drives tend to be what people buy instead of 1TB cos of hte cost factor. they would need to retool some production line just for that. just not justifiable.
JasonX report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Great work! Samsung

Jun 24, 2007 10:19     

Have to commend the company's aggressiveness and their production of quality products. It's because of companies like Samsung that consumers get the best deal. Still, $400 dollars... That's the price of my PC.
Abhishek report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

higher density means faster data transfer

Jun 25, 2007 08:47     

With the high density 3 platters, it's only logical to assume the data transfer will be the fastest among all 3 1TB SATA drives. The heads would not need to transfer as much to reach the data.
Jimmy Chiu report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

samsung is the best!

Jul 18, 2007 14:31     

until now i have used over a hundred samsung drives all of them served well samsung produces the best drives on the market
david report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0