OT (soft of)...Western Digital buys Hitachi storage...

[Engineer]

This might (or might not) shake up the landscape a bit..

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Weste...4.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=3&asset=&ccode=

 

[VirtualLarry]

Aww, shit. Does that mean that WD will convert all of Hitachi's drive line-up to "advanced format" drives? I was thinking of buying Hitachi for my storage server-to-be specifically because they were NOT advanced-format drives.

Kind of wierd to have the "deathstar" drives in WD's house too. WD have always been reliable to me. Hitachi less so.

 

[nanaki333]

i saw that this morning. just when hitachi drives were starting to get reliable... they're not the fastest, but they've been pretty solid in desktops and laptops i've put them in.

 

[Idontcare]

bummer...I intentionally went from western digital drives to hitachi because the hitachi drives were no-nonsense drives and inexpensive.

You knew when a 7200rpm drive was going to really be a 7200rpm drive and not some "best case scenario this drive may peak at 7200rpm, but most of the time it won't".

Now we are going to have western digital's offerings balloon from 6 different flavors of hard-drives to 12 (are there even enough colors for that?).

 

[nanaki333]

bummer...I intentionally went from western digital drives to hitachi because the hitachi drives were no-nonsense drives and inexpensive.

You knew when a 7200rpm drive was going to really be a 7200rpm drive and not some "best case scenario this drive may peak at 7200rpm, but most of the time it won't".

Now we are going to have western digital's offerings balloon from 6 different flavors of hard-drives to 12 (are there even enough colors for that?).

now we'll have hitachi green drives that spin down every 20 seconds, then back up again destroying the drive life quicker. THANKS WD!

 

[Elixer]

On the flip side of the coin, it could have been Seagate who bought them out...

 

[Blain]

My wife has WDC in her IRA account. Now if they would start paying a dividend, life would be that much sweeter.
Rock On Western Digital!

 

[jobz]

Yeah, Hitachi hds have also been good to me, knock on wood.

I get the feeling wd are buying to get rid of the competition.

 

[Blain]

Yeah, Hitachi hds have also been good to me, knock on wood.

I get the feeling wd are buying to get rid of the competition.

"A hard drive is a key data-storage technology for computers, and in picking up the Hitachi business, Western Digital is picking off one of the last key players.
It's also giving itself a foothold in the market for drives that go into servers and corporate-level storage arrays. That's been a weakness for a company mostly known for selling hard drives that go into consumer PCs.

Western Digital is the No. 1 hard drive maker, just ahead of Seagate in terms of units sold. Hitachi is No. 3."

 

[StarTech]

I hope they do not trash the TravelStar line for notebooks. In over 15 years using them I have never had a failure.

 

[Schadenfroh]

The industry needs some more consolidation. WD has been doing really good lately, despite the fact they used to have a rather poor reputation.

Next, who is going to buy Fujitsu, Toshiba and possibly Samsung's HDD divisions?

 

[pitz]

Unfortunate -- Hitachis were my favourite brand of drives, and probably the most reliable units on the market (with WD being my least favourite, and probably the most unfavourable brand I know of).

However, the current situation, with flagship products selling for $100 is hardly sustainable. Hitachi's products were definitely the cheapest in the marketplace, so, over the next while, expect hard drive prices to go up significantly with the elimination of Hitachi as a player.

 

[lamedude]

Toshiba already bought Fujitsu's HDD division.

 

[Cerb]

bummer...I intentionally went from western digital drives to hitachi because the hitachi drives were no-nonsense drives and inexpensive.

You knew when a 7200rpm drive was going to really be a 7200rpm drive and not some "best case scenario this drive may peak at 7200rpm, but most of the time it won't".

I think you have Hitachi and WD mixed up, there. Hitachi makes a drive that spins slower when idle. WD drives all spin at a set RPM, AFAIK.

 

[Engineer]

I think you have Hitachi and WD mixed up, there. Hitachi makes a drive that spins slower when idle. WD drives all spin at a set RPM, AFAIK.

Which Hitachi drive changes spindle speed? I could not find anything on it.

 

[Voo]

You knew when a 7200rpm drive was going to really be a 7200rpm drive and not some "best case scenario this drive may peak at 7200rpm, but most of the time it won't".

WD drives also have one fixed RPM, but they just give a range instead of the actual number, because - well the only reason besides PR being they really want to sell the same line of drives with slightly varying RPM values (and no idea where the advantage in that would be)

 

[Cerb]

Which Hitachi drive changes spindle speed? I could not find anything on it.

WP_PowerAcoustic_25March.pdf
Deskstar7K1000_010307_final.pdf
Any that list a low RPM idle, AKAIK.