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Why I regret buying an iMac

I can't say I've ever been a huge fan of all-in-one PCs, but a few years ago I was seduced into buying an iMac.

I'd like to blame it on an Apple ad campaign -- or the cumulative effects of multiple Apple ad campaigns -- but I think it had more to do with me briefly playing around with the review samples that made their way into our labs year in and and year out and rationalizing that the sleek, space-saving iMac would make a good hand-me-down computer for my kids when they were old enough to … Read more

Seagate reaches 1Tb per square inch, hard drive to reach 60TB capacity

The current highest-capacity internal hard drive that you can buy offers 3TB of storage space, which is huge. Soon you'll be able to put even more data on one, thanks toSeagate's recent achievement in data density.

The hard-drive maker announced today that it has become the first company to achieve the milestone storage density of 1 terabit (1 trillion bits) per square inch, promising to double the current hard-drive's capacity before the end of this decade. The company says its new storage technology will also allow hard drives to reach 60TB capacity within the next decade. … Read more

What audio products need to be invented?

What audio product needs to be invented? I'll start with an easy one: truly wireless speakers. That would be great; all they need to do is figure out how to beam enough power to speakers to drive their internal amplifiers. I doubt that's going to happen anytime soon.

Maybe an app that converts crappy-sounding iTunes to true 24-bit/96kHz files, or Bluetooth audio that sounds decent. How about surround-sound headphones to listen to all of the great music recorded in surround? Oh right, first we'd need great-sounding music surround recordings.

How about a great-sounding subwoofer that doesn'… Read more

Hitachi ships 1TB-per-platter desktop hard drive

Hitachi announced today that it's now shipping hard drives in the Deskstar and Cinemastar desktop families that are based on the new 1TB-per-platter technology. These are the company's first drives that achieve this milestone of areal density.

In the Deskstar family, Hitachi is shipping the Deskstar 7K1000.D and Deskstar 5K1000.B; in the Cinemastar family, there are the Cinemastar 7K1000.D and Cinemastar 5K1000.B. In both cases, the 7K1000 drives are high performers that spin at 7,200rpm; the 5K1000 drives are those with Hitachi's CoolSpin technology that enables the drive to use up to 23 percent less energy while idling.

Hitachi says the Deskstar family is for desktop computers, and the Cinemastar family is optimized for use in audio and video applications, such as storage-based TVs and DVRs.

Despite the fact that the new drives support the highest areal density among hard drives currently on the market, they offer only up to 1TB of storage space. They do use just one platter (as opposed to two more platters) and therefore might use less energy, and they are thinner than other, standard drives.

All the new drives support SATA 3 (6Gbps) and have 32MB of cache memory. They are available now but it's unclear how much they cost.… Read more

Toshiba announces 1TB 2.5-inch standard internal hard drive

Following Western Digital, Toshiba announced today that it's now shipping its first 1TB standard 2.5-inch, 9mm-thick internal hard drive for laptops, the MQ01ABD series.

This is the company's first 2.5-in internal hard drive that's based on the 500GB-per-platter technology that offers the areal density of 744Gb per square inch.

Previously, most high-capacity 2.5-inch internal hard drives came in the new 12.5mm thickness standard and therefore were not compatible with most laptops and other applications.

The new drive comes in capacities from 250GB to 1TB, features SATA 2 (3Gbps), and spins at 5,400rpm. … Read more

Apple recalls some iMac 1TB Hard Drives

Apparently a batch of the 1TB Seagate hard drives that shipped with iMac systems between May and July of 2011 may fail under certain conditions, and as a precaution Apple has started up a replacement program for the affected iMac systems. The Macs will be either the 21.5-inch or 27-inch models, provided they have been configured with the 1TB drives; other drive configurations such as the 2TB or SSD options are not affected.

If you have purchased one of these iMac configurations, Apple will likely contact you regarding the drive replacement, provided you gave a valid e-mail address when … Read more

WD ships first 1TB standard notebook internal drive

Western Digital announced today that it is now shipping the WD Scorpio Blue 1TB, its first 1TB internal 2.5-inch hard drive for laptops that has the same 9.5mm thickness as drives of smaller capacities.

While 1TB is not the largest capacity on the market for a drive of the 2.5-inch design, most other current 1TB or larger drives, including the previous version 1TB of the Scorpio Blue, come in the 12.5mm thickness standard and therefore are not compatible with most existing laptops.

WD says that the new WD Scorpio Blue 1TB is designed for mainstream notebook computers and has an areal density of 500GB per platter, making it possible to keep the dual-platter drive in the standard-thickness design. For the first time, laptop computers will be able to offer 1TB of storage without having to resort to external solutions.

According to WD, the WD Scorpio Blue features low power consumption and cool and quiet operation, and is resistant to shocks of up to 400Gs. The drive itself spins at just 5,200rpm, slower than the typical 5,400rpm. … Read more

Get a 1TB Seagate external hard drive for $50

In recent months I've posted the occasional 1TB external hard drive for 50 bucks, but always with the caveat of having to wait for a rebate check--sometimes two of them.

That's what makes today's deal a little more exciting: Best Buy has the Seagate Expansion 1TB external hard drive for $49.99 shipped (plus sales tax in most states). Total number of rebates required: zero.

Update (12/3): This deal has long since expired. Please stop e-mailing me! :)

The aptly named Expansion is a pretty no-frills drive, offering a USB 2.0 interface and a better-than-average 7,… Read more