WD

Western Digital enters enterprise-storage market

There have always been fewer options in the enterprise-storage market than there have been in the consumer market. That's why it's significant that enterprise buyers now have another choice.

Western Digital announced Tuesday its entry into the enterprise market with the first shipments of its WD S25, 10,000rpm, 2.5-inch SAS interface hard drives.

While high-end consumer-grade 2.5-inch SATA hard drives can spin at 7,200rpm, at 10,000rpm the new hard drive from Western Digital is still considered entry-level. This is because in the enterprise market, vendors such as Seagate already offer SAS-based hard drives that spin at 15,000rpm.… Read more

Inside CNET Labs Podcast 67: Kimbo Slice stinks

Happy belated Halloween! I know, I know. Halloween is so last week! Still, Dong and I discuss our experiences of the most popular holiday that you don't actually get to stay home from work for.

Then, we move to the toilet. Or more specifically, toilet technology. Even more specifically, we talk about motion detection technology used in the toilet. And by toilet, I don't mean in the toilet, just, you know, in the washroom. Also, clam-shell packaging? Who needs it?

Then we get down to serious business with Dong detailing the WD TV Live and the first 6GBps SATA controller card. … Read more

Hands-on: Western Digital's all new WD TV Live

Awhile ago, Western Digital tackled the home entertainment arena with the WD TV, which turned out to be a success. Nonetheless, a lot of enthusiasts, including me, were turned off by the fact that the WD TV lacks support for networking and doesn't include the capability to decode DTS audio, which is popularly used in compressed high-def video formats.

It seems Western Digital took our complaints to heart as the company announced Tuesday the availability of the next generation of the device, the WD TV Live HD Media Player.

Outside, the WD TV Live has the same shape and size as the WD TV. However, on the back, apart from the USB, HDMI, and composite ports, you'll find the newly added 10/100 Ethernet port. This port opens the device to many possibilities, which, for now, include access to YouTube, Flickr, and Internet radio stations.

On the inside, the device now can decode both DTS and DTS 2.0 audio encoding and sports a faster processor.

Like the previous WD TV, the new WD TV Live supports playing back all kinds of video, audio, and photo formats, including the most popular high-def video formats such as Matroska (MKV) and DivX. In addition, it also has these new and improved features:

Full-HD 1080p video playback with support for different sound tracks, subtitles (when available), and the capability to decode DTS audio Capability to play videos, music, photos, and radio from the Internet Ethernet port for wired connection to access digital content from other network devices Supports two USB mass storage devices at the same time, including external hard drives, digital cameras, camcorders, and portable media players

I tried the unit out and it was indeed a much better experience than the WD TV. … Read more

Two monitors attempt to pass in the HDTV world

What's the difference between an HDTV and a computer monitor? Well, let's see. HDTVs are for the most part made for watching movies and HD broadcasts, and playing video games. Monitors are made for everyday computer operations, productivity tasks, computer games, and to a lesser extent movies. Also, monitors are generally smaller than your average HDTV, and HDTVs usually have more in the way of connection options.

So where does this leave my latest two monitor reviews? The LG Flatron M237WD and the Samsung SyncMaster P2370HD are both monitors with many features only TVs usually have, including multiple … Read more

Western Digital ships new desktop My Book external hard drives

Another day, another external hard drive. I thought by now, storage vendors had exhausted ideas for new external hard drives. I was wrong.

Western Digital announced on Thursday its new and refreshed lines of My Book external hard dives, including the My Book Essential and My Book for Mac. Both hard drives are for desktops, and most importantly, they come with the new WD SmartWare software that's designed to ease the job of backing up your data.

Both new external hard drives are available in capacities ranging from 500GB to 2TB and feature user-selected password protection combined with military-grade … Read more

Netgear unleashes its Digital Entertainer Live

If you're a fan of devices that play media from USB drives, such as the WD TV, you'll probably find the newest toy from Netgear interesting.

The company announced Tuesday the newest Internet-connected set-top box in its Digital Entertainer product family, the Digital Entertainer Live (model EVA2000). The device is similar to the WD TV as it also has two USB ports and supports playback of a long list of digital media files, including DivX and Matroska MKV, a popular compressed format for high-definition movies.

The EVA2000 incorporates an Ethernet port that gives it access to Internet-based media … Read more

Western Digital shipping high-speed 2TB hard drive

After releasing relatively low-performance 2TB hard drives a few months ago, Western Digital announced Tuesday that it's now shipping high-performance versions of these top-capacity drives.

The new drives are the WD Caviar Black and the WD RE4. According to the company, the former is designed for desktops while the latter is suited for servers and network storage devices.

These two new hard drives are based on WD's 500GB-per-platter technology. They both combine 7200rpm spin speed, 64MB cache, dual-stage actuator technology, SATA 2 (3Gb/s) interface, and an integrated dual processor.

(Dual actuator technology is a head-positioning system with … Read more

The full LG Flatron M237WD review is coming...really!

Last week, I explained my reasons for holding off on the review of the LG Flatron M237WD.

I know it's a disappointment to those you who have been inquiring about the review for a while now, but I still believe that waiting for a very similar comparison monitor--in this case, the Samsung P2370HD--will make for a much better and useful review.

So, to tide you over, I recorded a short video of me taking a quick look at the LG Flatron M237WD, very early in the morning. Notice my workout clothes. Also, please forgive the amateurish camera work. I'… Read more

New Samsung computer monitors set to land soon

I've had the LG Flatron M237WD in-house for a good minute now. I've yet to review it, however, because I felt that unless I had something appropriate to compare it to, the review wouldn't be as useful.

For awhile I'd been begging waiting on Samsung to send its 2370HD, as it has many of the same "TV like" connections as the Flatron, as well as the same 23-inch screen size and 1920x1080 resolution. Samsung just informed me that I should be receiving the display either later this week or next, but that I would … Read more

Western Digital introduces WD TV Mini media player

We reviewed Western Digital's WD TV HD media player several months ago and generally liked what we saw. Now the company is back with a less expensive--and smaller version--that's called the WD TV Mini. The unit costs $99.99 and is allegedly available now.

Like its big brother, the Mini is designed to read a wide assortment of audio and video file formats from an external storage device, whether it be one of Western Digital's own external hard drives or just a simple thumb drive, and play it back on your TV.

The WD TV HD media … Read more