Got a 7200.7 when bought a Barracuda ATAIV.

[CougTek]

I bought a respectable amount of computer parts last week in order to upgrade/replace/sell my computer park. Among these parts was a Barracuda ATA IV 40GB (there was a sale on it and I only needed storage, not speed). When I received my order, I was gladly surprised to see that my ATA IV was in fact a 7200.7, but with a small sticker from the seller (NCIX.com) identifying it as an ATA IV. Better STR for free.

Anyone else noticed if it's a general trend or if this one was only a mistake? There are still a lot of stores offering the ATA IV, but I doubt Seagate still manufactures it as it is two generations old. My guess is that most drives advertised as being ATA IV or ATA V are probably 7200.7 sold under the older model names in reality.

I still need two nForce2 motherboards, two pieces of RAM and two graphic cards before selling some of my old boxes and powering the new ones. Bad news is that I won't be able to sell my current most powerful box (Athlon XP Palomino 1500+) since the Soltek motherboard (SL-75DRV2) has at least 4 capacitors that started to bulge. Although the board is still very reliable, I would look silly to sell a system with capacitors looking as if they are about to blow up. Too bad, I'm sure I could have had at least 550$CDN for the whole box.

 

[e_dawg]

I am noticing this as a general trend. Stores often neglect to update their webpages, and some aren't even aware of the 3 generations of drives appearing within the same year. Often, I will have to go to the store myself and inspect the drive before I tell them that this isn't a Cuda IV or V -- it is a 7200.7 (which I don't want because it is slightly noisier, doesn't have the SeaShield, and seeks slightly slower).

But anyways, how was your purchasing experience with NCIX? Do you use them regularly? They have become my online retailer of choice over the past year or so.

 

[CougTek]

I will have to go to the store myself and inspect the drive before I tell them that this isn't a Cuda IV or V -- it is a 7200.7 (which I don't want because it is slightly noisier, doesn't have the SeaShield, and seeks slightly slower).

Mine came in a SeaShield.

But anyways, how was your purchasing experience with NCIX? Do you use them regularly? They have become my online retailer of choice over the past year or so.

I've always had good exeriences with NCIX.com. Shipping took a week, via Purolator (the cheapest since I had two enclosures on that ordr and Puro charges less for heavy packages). I probably buy from them every two or three months.

 

[e_dawg]

Coug, you are thinking of the SeaShell ribbed plastic packaging. I am referring to the SeaShield -- the metal shield that protects the hard drive electronics on the bottom of the HD and reduces emitted noise with a layer of foam on the inside of the SeaShield.

More info:

http://www.seagate.com/training/properhandling/unit2/mt1p6.html

http://www.endpcnoise.com/cgi-bin/e/120gigquietharddrive.html

 

[CougTek]

Whatever, mine came in a Sea-something and I prefer foam in my wall, not my hard drive.

 

[Vlad The Impaler]

I took delivery of 25 7200.7s today. They all came with metal Seasheilds....

 

[e_dawg]

I wonder why they changed the design (albeit, the addition of a SeaShield must be a very simple modification)... maybe customers complained that it wasn't as quiet as the legendary Cuda IV and V's in operation?

 

[e_dawg]

What I'm trying to say is that there must have been a compelling reason to do so, as they purposely left the SeaShield out of the original design of the 7200.7 (the first lots of 7200.7's all came without SeaShields) presumably to save cost...

 

[Prof.Wizard]

...they purposely left the SeaShield out of the original design of the 7200.7 (the first lots of 7200.7's all came without SeaShields) presumably to save cost...

...or lower heat.

 

[e_dawg]

Yes, the removal of the SeaShield would lower heat as well, but I don't think heat is a problem for 7200 rpm drives these days. If it were a 15k drive, I can see how better dissipation of heat without the shield would be useful, but a 7200 rpm drive? Hmm...