Western Digital raises the mobile HDD bar to 320GB

*A common marketing ploy by hard drive manufacturers is to calculate the size of a hard disk by using the decimal 10 system of 1000 bytes = one kilobyte, instead of the binary system where 1024 bytes = one kilobyte (your PC only knows binary). This rounding off practice means you end up with a hard drive with a capacity less than what is indicated on the label.

The WD3200BEVT is a 2.5-inch SATA, 5400 RPM hard drive that's perfectly suited for notebook computers because of its high-performance, low power consumption and cool operation. At 9.5mm high it fits easily into either the MacBook or MacBook Pro and features a 3 Gb/second interface and a 8 MB Cache. The drive will be shipping in quantity in December for around US$200.

I've been using a Scorpio 320GB drive for just over a week in my MacBook Pro and it's fast, quiet and spacious. The only problem is the 29 screws required to install a drive in a MBP, but I can't hold that against Western Digital.

My advice when upgrading your notebook HDD is to buy two mechanisms. One for the notebook and a matching drive of equal size to put into a Firewire enclosure for synchronized weekly backups. You do back up regularly, don't you?

An aside from the PowerPage Podcast last night: my favorite backup software ShirtPocket's SuperDuper 2.1.4 isn't fully compatible with Mac OS 10.5 yet, so use Carbon Copy Cloner 3.0.1 (donationware) in the mean while.