Maxtor Shatters High Capacity and Performance Barriers With Two New Hard Drives

High Capacity 160 GB DiamondMax(R) D540X and High Performance DiamondMax Plus(R) D740X Hard Drives Lead the Industry Sept. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Maxtor(R) Corporation (NYSE: MXO), a worldwide leader in hard disk drives and storage solutions, today announced volume shipments of the 40 GB per platter DiamondMax Plus D740X, the first 7200-RPM desktop hard drive with the new Fast Drive Ultra ATA/133 technology. Also announced today is the world's highest capacity ATA hard drive, the new DiamondMax D540X, a 5400-RPM hard drive that breaks both the Big Drive and Fast Drive barriers by offering a whopping 160 GB capacity and the latest Ultra ATA/133 interface technology.

Both new drives are optimized to provide the best total capacity and performance for a myriad of storage-intensive applications including personal computers (PCs), network attached storage, and consumer electronics (CE) market segments.

"The improved capacity and performance of these two drives is a direct result of the recent Maxtor-led industry initiatives that advance state-of- the-art hard disk drive technologies," said Mike Cordano, executive vice president of worldwide marketing and sales at Maxtor. "We have surpassed the 137GB capacity barrier and have increased data transfer speeds with Ultra ATA/133 technology as promised. As storage needs continue to expand, Maxtor remains committed to leading advances in technology and to introducing first-to-market products that offer OEMs and consumers the highest capacity, the fastest interface technology, and the most reliable solutions in the desktop disk drive market today."

Maxtor DiamondMax Plus D740X
Offered in capacities up to 80 GB, the DiamondMax Plus D740X is a 7200-RPM hard drive targeting commercial business users and consumer enthusiasts. The D740X is the latest in Maxtor's award-winning DiamondMax Plus line of drives and achieves greater than 10 percent improvement in performance than previous models.

The 40 GB per platter D740X design provides the ultimate design flexibility and world-class acoustics with the option of either a traditional ball bearing motor or the quiet fluid dynamic bearing (FDB) motor of Maxtor's Quiet Drive Technology (QDT) Plus. The DiamondMax Plus D740X is the third generation of FDB motors from Maxtor to bring best-in-class performance and world class acoustics to demanding applications such as desktop video editing, games, and other multimedia applications.

Maxtor DiamondMax D540X
At 160 GB, the DiamondMax D540X strengthens Maxtor's reputation in the storage industry as the world leader in capacity within the 1" form factor, and breaks both the Big Drive and Fast Drive technology barriers. It is the latest offering in Maxtor's DiamondMax D540X line of 5400 RPM, 40 GB per platter hard drives now available in one to four platter designs.

At its peak capacity, the D540X can hold 160 hours of compressed digital video ideal for post-production houses and render it seamlessly with the new UltraATA/133 interface. The DiamondMax D540X is also well suited for network attached storage applications and will help IT managers to more effectively manage and store high volumes of corporate data.

The DiamondMax D540X will be integrated into Maxtor's new enterprise-class file server, the MaxAttach NAS 6000, which was also announced today at Networld+Interop (N+I) in Atlanta.

"Maxtor is providing the desktop HDD industry's highest capacity drive, a great benefit for high-end storage consumers," said Mark Geenen, president of TrendFOCUS, a leading market research firm. "Maxtor continues to set the pace in introducing and delivering innovative products to market."

Pricing and Availability
The Maxtor DiamondMax Plus D740X is immediately available through major distribution and retail channels. Estimated manufacturer's suggested retail price for the Maxtor DiamondMax Plus D740X is $249.95. The DiamondMax D540X will be available through the same channels in early October with an MSRP of $399.95. Qualifications of both drives by major PC manufacturers are nearly complete.

Each drive purchased will be bundled with a Promise Technology ATA controller card to allow full Ultra ATA/133 interface speed, a 33 percent increase in performance from the previous ATA/100 models. The new hard drives and controller cards are also fully backward compatible with earlier ATA technologies. These bundles are available to select geographic locations through October 2001. Starting in November, Maxtor will offer the Ultra ATA/133 card as a standalone product.

For more information about the Maxtor DiamondMax D540X, DiamondMax Plus D740X, as well as Maxtor's Big Drive and Fast Drives technology, please visit the company's website at www.maxtor.com.

About Maxtor
Maxtor Corporation is one of the world's leading suppliers of information storage solutions. The company has an expansive line of storage products for desktop computers, high-performance Intel-based servers, network attached storage and consumer electronics. Maxtor has a reputation as a proven market leader built by providing consistent high-quality products, and service and support for its customers. Maxtor and its products can be found at www.maxtor.com or by calling toll-free (800) 2-MAXTOR. Maxtor is traded on the NYSE under the MXO symbol.

GB means 1 billion bytes. Total accessible capacity varies depending on operating environment.

SOURCE Maxtor Corporation

Computers | FromtheWire | Maxtor

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