January 2007 Hard Drive Price Guide - Page 4

Serial ATA Hard Drive Value

Just as in the previous PATA chart, we are also taking a close look at our Serial ATA drives and determining exactly which models and capacities offer the best overall value. We do this through the tried-and-true method of determining hard drive value, or "price per GB", which is then used as a sorting criteria to ensure the best $/GB deals rise to the top. Of course, no method is foolproof, and other factors like performance or features certainly come into play, but it does give us a different view on which brands, speeds and capacities offer the best bang for the buck.

The Serial ATA value chart follows the same overall trend we saw in the PATA listings, but stays a bit ahead, showing larger drive capacities higher in the list. In the Parallel ATA drive chart, the 400GB and 500GB models are working their way up, but here the Samsung SpinPoint T133 400GB is the top value, and sits alone at 29-cents per GB. The Western Digital Caviar SE 250GB is close behind, and is followed by the Western Digital Caviar SE16 500GB behemoth. In terms of the overall numbers, the PATA and SATA listings are equivalent, with the top ten comprised of seven drives of 250-320GB and three more at 400-500GB. The five Western Digital Raptor models are at their usual position at the bottom of the chart, as this line of high-end 10K RPM drives has always been concerned with pure performance and reliability, not value.

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