Maxtor backs the D540X with a reassuring three-year warranty. Toll-free telephone support is available long hours--Monday through Friday, 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. MT--but not on weekends, which could be annoying for home users. Maxtor's easily navigable online support includes jumper diagrams, drive specs, manuals, and software downloads.
More for your money
The Maxtor D540X offers 33 percent more space for about the same price as the 120GB competition. If capacity is your primary concern, go for it. But if you want state-of-the-art performance, look to a 7,200rpm drive, such as the Western Digital WD1200JB or the IBM Deskstar 120GXP.
eTesting Labs' WinBench 99 2.0 test
Measured in kilobytes per second; longer bars indicate better performance
| Disk-transfer rate: end | | | Disk-transfer rate: beginning | | |
Western Digital WD1200JB
| IBM Deskstar 120GXP
| Maxtor D540X
| |
HD Tach 2.70 tests
Measured in megabytes per second; longer bars indicate better performance
| Write speed (maximum) | | | Read speed (maximum) | | | Read burst speed | | 
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IBM Deskstar 120GXP
| Western Digital WD1200JB
| Maxtor D540X
| |
CNET Labs' tests evaluate the range of performance you may expect from a hard drive. The eTesting Labs' transfer rates are measured at the beginning of the disk (or its outside, where data moves past the read head at a higher rate) and at the end of the disk (or its inside, where data moves past the read head at a slower rate). HD Tach performs similar tests, returning a drive's maximum sustained write and read speeds. In addition, it measures read-burst speed, which
evaluates the performace of the drive's read-ahead memory and the drive controller.
The Maxtor's fast ATA-133 connection gave it an edge over the competition when it came to quick transfers in HD Tach's test for read-burst speed. However, during sustained data transfers, the Maxtor's 5,400rpm spin rate put it behind that of the IBM and Western Digital drives, both of which spin at 7,200rpm.
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