Storage Review has posted a review on the Seagate Cheetah 73LP ST373405LW harddisk.
Earlier this year, drive-giant Seagate Technology shipped the Cheetah 36XL, something of a "refresh" of its previous low-profile 36 gig drive, the Cheetah 36LP. Though the 36XL features improved areal density, it doesn´t really raise the bar when it came to increasing the amount of data one could pack in a low-profile SCSI unit. As a result, we regard the 36XL as more of an interim, "between-the-generations" product. This isn´t to say that the drive doesn´t deliver competent performance; indeed, after its review, the 36XL ascended into our 10k RPM Leaderboard slot. However, we´re quickly approaching the summer period, a season that traditionally marks the appearance of next-generation SCSI units. The first has finally appeared in our labs, from none other than Seagate themselves.Read more
The 10,000 RPM Cheetah 73LP packs 73 gigs of data into a standard low-profile chassis. While nothing new in the ATA arena (the IBM Deskstar 75GXP appeared in channels a year ago), this is a first for a SCSI drive. The 73LP utilizes just four platters, storing 18 gigs each, to achieve its flagship capacity. 73 gigs, in fact, is the 73LP´s only capacity point. Though they originally planned to offer a 36 gig version as well, it seems Seagate rethought its strategy and is now content to target the 36XL and the yet-to-be-shipped value-class Cheetah 36ES at these lower rungs.
