Product Description

Seagate 500GB Internal SATA 16MB Cache Hard Drive. The blazingly fast, amazingly easy way to store and work with massive amounts of data. With their 3Gb/sec data rate, Serial ATA interface and Native Command Queuing (NCQ) technology, these highly advanced drives improve desktop performance.

Product Details

• Brand: Seagate
• Model: ST3500641AS-RK
• Dimensions: 10.00" h x 4.00" w x 9.00" l, 1.65 pounds
• Memory: 16MB
• Hard Disk: 500GB

Features

• 500 GB SATA NCQ internal hard drive features SATA with 3 Gbps and Native Command Queuing
• 16 MB cache buffer; 7200 RPM for fast read/write times
• Whisper-quiet with a 2.5 bels idle and 2.8 bels seek acoustics
• Includes internal drive, interface cable, serial ATA power cable, DiscWizard installation software, SeaTools diagnostic software, quick install guide
• 5-year limited warranty

From the manufacturer
The Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 with SATA 3Gb/s and Native Command Queuing(NCQ)adheres to the SATA 2.5 rev. specification and is the industry's most comprehensive family of 3.5-inch drives, providing leading technology targeted at SATA servers, mainstream and high-performance PCs/workstations, PC gaming systems and media PCs. Backed by an industry-leading unprecedented five-year warranty.

Features

• SATA 3Gb/s with NCQ: Higher through-put and supports Intel Hyper-Threading for increased performance of SATA servers and workstations supporting intensive applications. NCQ also increases reliability in heavy workloads significantly reducing the drive's mechanical wear.
• 16 MB Cache: Provides the highest performance with increased data bursting through the interface
• 2.8 bels idle, 3.2 bels seek acoustics: Super-quiet drive is almost inaudible. Difference between idle and seek can hardly be detected by human ear, making drive operation almost silent.
• 3-D Defense System: Industry's most comprehensive drive and data protection system
• 7,200 RPM: Higher performance and data through-put
• 63 Gs operating shock: Robust product for challenging applications
• 350 Gs non-operating shock: Top reliability and durability during shipment and integration
• RoHS Compliant: Meets or exceeds all current and proposed environmental standards and legislation

Customer Reviews

quiet, fast, reliable
I have two of these drives, one for video editing, one for a server. I've been completely satisfied with them; they were easy to install and their performance has been excellent. The SATA cables are a huge improvement over the old ATA ribbon cables, both for ease of installation and for improved airflow inside the computers. Windows recognizes SATA drives without a problem.

The disk comes with a CD that includes installation software (not needed, for me at least) and Seagate's BounceBack Express backup software.

Good Product
Well, I purchased this for my HP Media Vault NAS device (which I love, and is the subject of a separate review), as one of the only drawbacks of the Media Vault design is that it has no redundacy.
Doing a search for the best price / performance ratio, I selected the Seagate Barracuda drive. Also, as a note to potential purchasers of a second drive for the Media Vault, there are a number of drives that it will not work with. Since there are no incompatibilites with the Seagate drives (seems to be mostly Western Digital drives that won't work), that also helped me pick this model. It works fine with the MV. You can choose to install it as an additional 500 GB of storage, for a total of 1 TB, or add it as a mirror as I did, giving you a total of 500 GB of redundant storage. Now I finally have the peace of mind to fill this sucker up and not worry that I'm going to lose my entire digital life in one hard drive crash. The odds are very low that both drives will fail at the same time. Also, and I didn't know this at the time of purchase, but this is the exact model that already shipped with my MV, so I now have a mirror of two of the exact model drive. Cool! If HP likes it, then it's good enough for me.

Excellent HD for an awesome price
After my WD My Book crashed with all my major files, I wanted to get a good harddrive that was reliable, fast, large capacity, quiet, and did I say reliable? I read many reviews on this Seagate 500GB Barracuda model, and decided to go with it. After getting 2 duds (OEM HD's) from another "eggcelent" online store, I basically gave up on it. I tried a 3rd time, and got it from here... and could not be happier with my choice. For the extra $10, I got a brand new, sealed haddrive with the full 5 year warranty. The harddrive itself is excellent and quite small. The SATA is super fast compared to ATA. Not only does it transfer my files in a flash, but the noise is whisper quiet. I read some reviews that this particular model is quite noisy when it writes, but I think those are just bad models, because mine is barely noticeable even when I'm transferring Gigs worth of data. I partitioned my drive in 2 parts, and have not had any problems with it thus far. If you're looking for a large storage HD with a small price, I highly recommend you go with this one.

I haven't shopped much on Amazon before, but I was blown away by their service. Free super saving, which stated it would arrive in 9-15 days or something, delivered to my door in 2! I am very satisfied with the product and the service.

PS. I don't work for Amazon nor am I trying to suck up to them... I was just really impressed with their speedy service.