SSD stands Solid State Drives. Instead of physical components like a regular drive SSDs are basically big flash drives running as a normal hard drive. Samsung’s marketing team made this video.
They linked 24 SSD using a Raid array creating a very fast computer that can transfer data at 2 Gigabytes per second. That’s Giga Byte. In Gigabit it’s 16 gbps! It opens all Microsoft Office applications at 0.5 seconds and can start 53 programs in 18 seconds!
Via Gizmodo.
If you need the maximum amount of storage in a single 3.5″ hard drive then you can now get the Western Digital Caviar Green 2TB (that’s almost 2,000GB or 2,000,000MB or 2,000,000,000KB or even 2,000,000,000,000 Bytes!).
The Caviar Green “focuses on quiet performance and lower power consumption. The 2TB Caviar Green has four 500GB platters spinning at variable rates between 5,400 and 7,200rpm, with a 32MB cache, and an areal density per platter of 400Gb/square inch”. This is probably not your operating system hard drive but it’s better to hold all your data.
Maximum PC, my favorite hardware review magazine, reviewed the Western Digital Caviar Green 2TB and they gave it a 9/10 score. With it being the “Highest-capacity consumer drive on the market”, “Low power consumption” and Quietness as strong points.
Since it’s a Western Digital hard drive then you will probably find it at their dealer in Saudi Arabia, Nahil Computers hopefully soon. If not then try your luck at Softland. Or just buy it from NewEgg or Amazon and ship it using myUS or Aramex.
I bought a couple of LaCie Little Disk 500 GB USB 2.0 Portable Hard Drive, Designed by Sam Hecht. They cost me $99 + myus shipping (400 SR, you can buy a 320GB WD for 399SR in Saudi Arabia). What I appreciated about this hard drive is that the USB cable is built into the enclosure so I won’t need to carry additional cable clutter.
I did not find it in Riyadh computer stores until now. It will probably take a few more weeks until it is available in Saudi Arabia. I bought it from Amazon.com and had it shipped using myus.
Read more about Western Digital in Saudi Arabia at Saudi TechView.
Western Digital is my favorite hard drive brand. Their drives are the most reliable I have ever used. I have contacted their email support many times and they always respond in less than 24 hours with useful information, something other companies should learn from them.
Western Digital has a strong presence in Saudi Arabia thanks to their only distributor in Saudi Arabia: Nahil Computers. I estimate over %95 of OEM 3.5″ hard drives sold in Saudi Arabia are Western Digital drives. Other hard drive makers: Seagate, Samsung, and Hitachi are missing from the Saudi market.
Seagate’s authorized distributors’ list shows Saudi Arabia as an option but no distributors are available. Even though they have a “Collection Point In Saudia Arabia”. Seagate, it’s Saudi Arabia.
The Collection Point processes Return Material Authorization (RMA) disc drives at one central location, speeding up and simplifying the return procedures for Seagate disc drives.
You can buy those brands online or from the specialty store Softland in Riyadh.
As for Western Digital’s distributor in Saudi Arabia, Nahil Computers. I’ve heard good things about their support services for hard drives. However their site is another example of inferior websites for Saudi companies. Their latest news is from 2006 and clicking on products will open an IFRAME with the other company’s website inside! If you visit their hard drive page you will notice it will just open Western Digital’s homepage in a frame (view source code and look for the IFRAME tag), so sluggish.
Apparently Western Digital also made a deal with Jarir Bookstore (not my favorite bookstore). From AME Info: “This strategic partnership with Jarir Bookstore demonstrates Western Digital’s commitment in KSA. We can now service the growing Saudi market with an established, reputable partner that will offer our customers not only the best products and technology but the best end-to-end customer experience”. The offers are on Jarir’s website, they even have the WD TV HD Media Player for 449SR.
Intel released their first SSD (Solid State Drive) the X-25M. Maximum PC gave it 9/10 and a Kick Ass award.
After testing Intel’s entry-level SSD, we can understand why. The X-25M offers the fastest read speeds we’ve ever seen from a single SSD or hard drive.
Maximum PC review for the Intel X-25M and their roundup of solid state drives.
Seagate outlines its plans the channel structure in the region after aquiring Maxtor.
In terms of distributors there will be six in the [Middle East] region selling both the Seagate and Maxtor product lines … ESAP in Saudi Arabia and Almasa will sell Maxtor lines only while both Delta and Jarir will operate as retail distributors.
This is good, I hope to see more competition to the dominant-in-Saudi-market Western Digital. But from the looks of it, Jarir are always overpriced (bought a mouse that I found for 100SR less at Best). As for ESAP, I never heard of them before, the only info I found about them is the number found here). (Source: ITP)
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