Why are we reviewing something that is a mere 36GB? Simple -- because this one drops access times and pumps up the transfer rate. Not targeted at the home user, the 36GB WD Raptor is marketed as an enterprise-level SATA drive -- the fastest drive on offer by WD. Capacity becomes an afterthought for the Raptor with its 10,000rpm spindle concerning itself with speed, resulting in seek times of around 5.2ms, compared to the 8.9ms of a 7,200rpm drive.

Combing a 250GB 7,200RPM hard disk drive, 8-in-1 card reader and USB hub, there's not much this unit can't do. It can be operated in either an upright or lying down position, while the USB hub function allows you to plug in a removable USB device such as a memory key or digital camera directly without fiddling with USB extension cables or reaching behind your desktop or notebook.

Why is this external hard drive different from all other external hard drives?

Quad-core makes it powerful and good value at the price. Noise and stability suffer though.

Dual-core and Windows Vista make it into our A-List’s Value PC category.

AM2 power at this price is a boon. But 3D performance is average and it’s very noisy.

With consumer PCs these days being as fast as the supercomputers of yesteryear, are dedicated workstations still relevant?

The system as a whole looks great and we can't find a weak spot.

Look what four grand can buy you.

A good-value and very powerful system that will appeal to those seeking ultimate performance.

The two-and-a-half thousand dollar price point is a popular one for PC systems.

We put out the call to Australia’s white box PC manufacturers for a good high-end $4000 PC and PC Express was the first to respond.

Finishing in line with the WD2000 SATA, the two jostled places and they both offer a trade off. The WD drive performs marginally better, a 0.8ms lag separating the two.

Custom design watercooling and some judicious overclocking make for a showstopping performance and price.

Narrowly edged out of the winning position by the extremely capable Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 drive, this drive has plenty to crow about.

Easy to use and great value for digital imaging enthusiasts

A monster PC thanks to some very high-end components. But it’s noisy and expensive.

Fast and good value. Gamers and power users will like it.

Back in November we wondered just what you could buy for $1500 and Modtech and PC Express showed us two near identical systems (the latter being A-Listed). This month’s submission from PC Market offered few surprises.

Dell OptiPlex GX150