Aimed firmly at the DVR market, Hitachi has launched a couple of new HDDs, namely the CinemaStar 7K1000.B and the CinemaStar 5K320. The 7K1000.B is similar to its DeskStar namesake, yet this unit has been optimised for continuous operation by tweaking its drive mechanics to use three idle modes. The 3.5 inch SATA drive has also been toughened up to withstand the fanless environment found inside DVRs. It spins at 7,200 rpm and is available in a range of capacities from 160 GB thru to a 1 TB big boy!

The 320 GB capacity CinemaStar 5K320 also boasts the toughened touch and optimisation found on the 7K1000.B. However it has also has had CoolSpin technology added to its repertoire to make it one of the most energy efficient and quiet 3.5 inch drives out there - well, according to Hitachi anyway.

Apart from the refinements required for DVR usage, these units are not much different from their DeskStar siblings, so for the average Joe they may get a ‘So what?’ comment, but for the improvement of DVR specs we give them a big thumbs up.

No prices as yet with the 7K1000.B out in August and the 5K320 on show from September.

Featured Tags CinemaStar-5K320, cinemastar-7K1000.B, DVR, hdd, hitachi


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The boys at Fabrik have come up with an eco-friendly external hard drive unit with their latest offering the SimpleTech [re]drive. The unit has a bamboo and re-cycled aluminium case and an Energy Star power adapter. For the more usual specs on an external hard drive, read on

* 500 GB storage
* Turbo USB 2.0 interface (25% faster than USB 2.0)
* 2 GB free online storage
* Unlimited tech support
* Plays nicely with PCs and Macs
* Plug n Play

The price tag rocks in at US$160 so not a bad package and eco-friendly too. I think that Fabrik have got a hot little winner on their hands here.

Source: Fabrik

Featured Tags external-hdd, Fabrik, hdd, simpletech-[re]drive


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Next month our Japan-based readers will be able to get their mits on Buffalo’s latest Blu-Ray burners, the BR-816SU2, BR-816FBS-WH and BR-816FBS-BK, all of which are capable of writing to Blu-Ray disks at a speed of 8x. First up is the BR-816SU2, an external USB 2.0/eSATA unit capable of writing to your single layer BD-R at the lightening fast speed of 8x when connected through its eSATA interface. Using the USB 2.0 connector you’ll still be able to achieve 6.5x. The BR-816FBS black and white units are internal burners and have a SATA connection allowing the same 8x speeds. Speeds for other disk types are as follows

* Dual layer BD-R, BD-RE and LTH BD-R - 2x
* DVD±R - 16x
* DVD-RAM - 5x
* DVD±R DL - 8x
* DVD-RW - 6x
* DVD+RW - 8x
* CD-R/RW - 48x/24x

Now for the crunch, what’s the price tag on these suckers? The BR-816SU2 will retail at 46,700 Yen whilst the internal units, BR-816FBS will appear at 41,000 Yen. This figures if converted directly when launched else where work out to US$435 and US$380. Not shabby for some decent hi-def storage units.

Source: Google Translate

Featured Tags blu-ray, blu-ray-burner, buffalo


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For you Toshiba fans out there, they have just released a 400 GB notebook HDD. At 2.5 inches yet spinning at 7,200 rpm this little sucker is top-end slimline HDD material. Check out the specs for yourself

* 2.5 inch 400 GB capacity
* Acoustic noise reduced by 2 db
* 20% energy consumption improvement

Other than that Toshiba aren’t giving out much more detail. There are bigger drives out there at the same physical size, but the reduced noise may persuade a movie-loving laptop owner to pick up one of these suckers. At Our Picks we’re not sure these suckers will cause much of a ripple in the HDD world.

Source: Business Wire

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Looking for an ultrathin laptop and not keen on the MacBook Air, then the latest offering from Lenovo, the ThinkPad X200, may just be the answer to your Apple phobia. This Centrino 2 powered notebook weighs in at 2.95 pounds, a smidge under the 3 pound Apple variety. The rest of the X200′s specs don’t look too bad either

* 12.1 inch display
* 64 GB SSD or up to 320 GB HDD
* Optional Blu-Ray drive
* Centrino 2 chips running between 2.26 and 2.40 GHz
* up to 4 GB of DDR3 memory
* Windows Vista
* Wi-Fi and mobile broadband connectivity
* 11.6 x 8.3 x 0.8 inches

This puppy won’t be out until August but that’s six weeks away at the latest, so not too long to wait. When it does hit the shelves the base model with 2.26 GHz Centrino 2 and least storage will set you back US$1200. Not bad! Lenovo have got it spot on with the X200 and just as well as this area of the laptop market is heating up considerably especially now the Centrino 2 is out there.

Source: PC World

Featured Tags laptop, lenovo, thinkpad-x200, ultrathin-laptop


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Apparently you could get your grubby little mits on the Palm Treo 800w last Friday at certain Sprint stores over a week ahead of the scheduled launch date. Obviously Sprint are so excited by the Treo 800w unit they couldn’t restrain themselves! On the surface the Treo 800w looks like a good deal

* Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.1 Software
* GPS using Sprint Navigation
* Outlook email with support for AOL, Gmail, Earthlink and Yahoo accounts
* Bluetooth connectivity
* 802.11 Wi-Fi b/g connectivity
* Excel, Word and Powerpoint
* 2.0 Mp camera with 2x zoom
* MicroSD expansion slot (up to 8 GB)
* 320 x 320 res display
* 256 MB user memory
* 4.4″ x 2.3″ x 0.7″
* 5.0 oz
* Battery 1150 mAh
* integrated QWERTY keyboard

And with the price tag rocking in at US$250 after the instant savings offer and mail-in rebate plus a two year plan, the Treo 800w seems to have everything covered for a non-touchscreen unit. So if you prefer QWERTY buttons then the Treo 800w may just be the unit for you.

Source: Sprint

Featured Tags cellphone, palm, sprint, treo-800w


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Despite having an official launch date of the 14th, it appears that you can splash out a whole day earlier if you’re into the LG Chocolate 3 from Verizon aka the VX8560. Not sure if a whole 24 hours will make any difference to their sales, but their marketing department obviously think so! Here’s a breakdown of what you can get your mits on

* 2 Mp camera (still and vid)
* GPS
* 3.5 mm headphone jack
* black or light blue colour choice
* 1 GB internal memory
* microSD slot (up to 8 GB)
* built-in FM transmitter
* 2.2 inch 320 x 240 res internal display
* 1.76 inch 176 x 220 res external display
* integrated stereo speakers
* Bluetooth 2.1 connectivity

The LG Chocolate 3 certainly has all the bells and whistles, we quite like the built in FM transmitter. It’s price tag is US$130 after mail in rebate but that’s hooked up with a two year plan. US$300 will get you an unshackled version of this puppy.

Featured Tags cellphone, lg, lg-chocolate-3, verizon


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