Introduction

For years notebook users looking for desktop like performance were forced to purchase notebooks that used desktop components like processors and hard drives. The notebook main board and processor have evolved into components that rival their desktop counterparts, but the 2.5" platter based notebook hard drive has taken more time to reach the same speeds when compared to their desktop equivalent.

When Western Digital announced their new Scorpio Black 750GB and the marketing department advertised it as a notebook drive with desktop performance, I quickly took note. Last year we looked at the Scorpio Blue 750GB, the 5,400 RPM version of the Scorpio Black and came away impressed with the capacity offered, but the speed was only on par with many other 5,400 RPM drives.

That might make the Scorpio Blue sound like a mediocre drive, but at the time it was the only 750GB, 9mm (standard notebook height) drive on the market. Now that every HDD manufacturer has a 750GB notebook drive, Western Digital has moved to take the Scorpio Blue and give it a high performance increase. Thus, the Scorpio Black, a high performance model was born.

Today we will look at the Western Digital Scorpio Black and compare it to many of the leading notebook drives available on the market.