April 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 shows a different set of capacities at the top of the PATA value listings. Instead of the 250GB to 320GB range holding court as it does in with PATA models, SATA drive values are more varied. There are four drives in the 400-500GB level, while the other six are between 250GB and 320GB. Overall, 320GB seems to be the median capacity in the top ten values, and the Maxtor DiamondMax 21 320GB and Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB (we use several decimal places when sorting) hold down the top two spots. The overall value in the Serial ATA hard drive market is slightly higher than with PATA drives, as the top ten listings are all at 28-cents/GB or less. It's no surprise that five Western Digital Raptor models are at the bottom on the chart, as this line of 10K RPM drives is designed for pure performance and reliability, not value.

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Page 1 April Hard Drive Price Guide Page 2 Serial ATA Hard Drive Price List Page 3 Parallel ATA Hard Drives Sorted by $/GB Page 4 Serial ATA Hard Drives Sorted by $/GB Page 5 Parallel and Serial ATA Hard Drives Sorted by Price Change Page 6 Parallel and Serial ATA Hard Drives Sorted by Price

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