Hitachi announces new HDDs aimed at DVRs

I love my DVR and out of all the tech innovations of the last decade, the DVR is right at the top of my most important list. I can't imagine going back to a VCR or other system for recording shows. Hitachi has announced a couple new HDDs that will make DVRs even better.

The new drives include the CinemaStar 5K1000 CoolSpin and the 7K1000.C. Both of the drives offer 1TB of storage and use platters with 500GB each. The 7K1000.C spins at 7,200 rpm and the massive capacity will allow both drives to store up to 250 hours of MPEG-4 video and handle multiple simultaneous streams.

The CoolSpin tech in the 5K1000 controls the speed of the motor to balance performance with power utilization and noise production. Hitachi claims that the drive needs 3.3W at idle and produces only 2.4 bels during operation. Both drives will debut in Q4 2009.