Hitachi’s Deskstar range has been around for years and we’ve seen the drives in countless PCs. This 1TB model may not find a place in every system, however, thanks to the noise it makes. Sequential reads and writes were characterised by an intrusive drumming sound, which became louder and more insistent in our random access tests.
On the plus side, this drive is good value. At 11.4c/GB, the Deskstar is far from the cheapest of this month’s 1TB models. Idle power consumption is low, though, at 4.4W (although note Hitachi doesn’t publish figures for operating power), and performance isn’t bad either. In most of our tests it achieved above average performance, faltering only in the small-file write test, with a disappointing 17th place.
The Deskstar’s price suggests it might be a good choice for bulk storage, but its sheer volume all but disqualifies it from a role in a media centre or entertainment PC. Still, for an environment where price is more of an issue than noise, it’s worth a look.
