Western Digital Launches 3TB AV-GP Hard Drives

[hsakarp_kahtap]

Western Digital has just added 2.5TB and 3TB versions to its AV-GP hard drive line, which is targeted at the audio-video market. The drives have a 1.0 million hour MTBF rating and feature WD GreenPower technology to reduce power consumption. According to WD, the AV-GP is no slouch in performance and can capture up to 12 simultaneous HD video streams

This is Western Digital's second 3TB drive, the first coming from the Caviar Green series. The new drives are available immediately, with recommended prices as follows:

• WD AV-GP 2.5TB - US$159.99
• WD AV-GP 3TB - US$179.99

See the original press release below:

WD® Launches Industry's Largest Capacity 3 TB SATA Hard Drives for AV Platforms
New WD AV-GP 2.5 TB, 3 TB Hard Drives Offer Cool-Running, Unrivalled Storage Capacity for Reliable 24/7 Video Streaming in IPTV, DVR, Media Center PC and Surveillance Systems
IRVINE, Calif., May 16, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Western Digital® (NYSE: WDC), a leader in the desktop, mobile, high-capacity enterprise and consumer markets for hard drives, today announced the addition of 2.5 TB and 3 TB versions to its family of WD AV-GP SATA hard drives, serving the audio-video (AV) market. Shipping immediately, the 2.5 TB and 3 TB capacity, 3.5-inch, WD AV-GP hard drives offer 24X7 reliability, low power consumption and unrivalled storage capacity for storage-intensive AV applications such as digital video recorders, video surveillance, single-drive media servers and external multimedia storage.
Designed to go the distance in high-temperature, always-on streaming digital AV environments, WD AV-GP drives store more hi-def audio and video than ever before with our new 2.5 TB and 3 TB versions," said Jim Welsh, executive vice president and general manager, of WD's branded products and CE business units. "Combine unsurpassed capacity, power-saving WD GreenPower Technology™, and performance capabilities to capture up to 12 simultaneous HD video streams with SilkStream™ technology and the drive choice is made clear in optimizing AV applications like PVR/DVR, IPTV and video surveillance.
The WD AV-GP family of drives delivers 24X7 reliability along with power-saving WD GreenPower Technology. The WD AV-GP drives are field tested to have a 1.0 million hour MTBF rating. Drives with capacities in excess of 2.19 TB currently present barriers for certain PC hardware, firmware and software. For example, drives larger than 2.19 TB are not supported by systems running Windows XP; and systems with 32-bit versions of Windows Vista or Windows 7 relegate drives larger than 2.19 TB to be used as secondary drives. Thus, it is important to review existing PC specifications prior to installation of either the 2.5 TB or 3 TB WD AV-GP drives. More information on navigating the 2.19 TB drive barrier is available from a new WD whitepaper, at: http://avlargecapacitydrives.com/.
Price and Availability
The WD AV-GP 2.5 TB (model number WD25EURS) and 3 TB (model number WD30EURS) hard drives are available now in the U.S. at select resellers and distributors. MSRP for the WD AV-GP 2.5 TB hard drive is $159.99 USD and the 3 TB hard drive is $179.99 USD. WD AV-GP hard drives are covered by a three-year limited warranty. More information about the WD AV-GP 2.5 TB and 3 TB hard drives may be found on the company's website at: http://wdc.com/en/products/internal/av/.

Source

[JayCub]

Thank you for the information Prakash, 3TB is alot of space to fill, WD make great hard drives as far as im concerned, for the size the prices look decent and cooling would be my only real concern.

That's some stretch considering my first pc had a whopping 60 Gb hard drive

[Bearcat]

A 3 Tb HDD, huh? That would take me at least a couple of days to fill up! Thanks for the info Prakash!