while evidence amount to the last remnant of harsh military dictatorship in North Korea responsible for firing a torpedo that immediately sank a South Korean naval vesel late March,
May 2010 will mark the day when a whopping 2TB capacity of HDD Hard Disk Drives fell below W150,000 mark in South Korea .

– finally, an affordable price range BUT with one ‘catch’ or rather the whole ‘point’ of buying these type of HDD Hard Disk Drives :
they’re s-l-o-w . thus, perfect to keep tons of movies or graphic files you seldom access but for ‘keeps’.

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more-over HDD Hard Disk Drives are one component in the computer system only aside from cooling fans that move constantly, so fast – using the latest technology is NOT necessarily good in the long run .

so naturally these would NOT be for your main disk where you install your OS Operating System . it is NOT uncommon for a home to have several 1TB OR 1.5TB HDD Hard Disk Drives for movies currently in South Korea dubbed the IT Nation with the fastest downloading speed – a medium resolution full movie in 3 minutes flat .

in the Millennium : the World is yet to be an equal one where the same types of HDD Hard Disk Drives are available around the Globe . also the price regulated by tax AND profit margin for different importers . and again, you WOULD want to buy an HDD Hard Disk Drive IN the country that you will be mostly using, instead of bringing in one abroad from a cheaper country because you WILL need product support for a computer peripheral that moves constantly, never knowing when it will go kaput .

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so TWO wonders of storing products both right under W150,000 at larger On-Line discount stores . meaning, you should buy it off-line paying a bit more, and pick it up directly because any shock during shipment can null such delicate computer parts :

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WD 2TB Caviar Green WD20EARS (SATA2/64M)

HDD (for PC) / SATA 3Gb/s (SATA2) / 2TB capacity / 5,400 가변RPM / 64MB Cache / 8.9cm (3.5″) internal drive

ONE distinct advantage AND disadvantage this has over the competition :
– uses 64MB cache so is faster,
– although an inovative format using 4kB sectors atuned for Windows Vista AND 7, you HAVE to contemplate either of TWO options if you are sticking to (now older but still mighty effective) Windows XP OS Operating Systems with older block size :

  1. [the hardware way] use dedicated jumpers by linking 7 and 8 pins on the rear : these are the Left-est 2 pins when the silver top-side with label is facing UP . HDD hard disk drives /used/ to come with jumpers in the (merely ten years) old days of wide IDE cable (now mostly thin SATA cables) so you would have a hard time shopping for one because they don’t sell these anywhere – perhaps except inside a hefty mother-board box . for beginners surely THIS is the recommended way instead of below :
  2. [the software way] use ‘WD Align’ program downloadable at Western Digital Site
    http://www.wdc.com/advformat

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now because this is the slower models for data keeping THAN constantly accessing, early adopters believed it would NOT be hot temperature-wise but no-no : it gets as hot as any other faster HDD hard disk drives while accessing data .

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Seagate 2TB Barracuda LP ST32000542AS (SATA2/5900/32M)
HDD (for PC) / SATA 3Gb/s (SATA2) / 2TB capacity / 5,900RPM / 32MB Cache / 8.9cm (3.5″) internal drive / 4 platters

yes quiet AND NOT burning hot because the disk turns slow . this really becomes issues if you have several HDD Hard Disk Drives stacked in one OR more systems at home OR work . added, these can make substantial noise for sensitive ears, as well as heat a moderate living room in mild Windter .

almost as the same low price range as WD competition in the slow model line right above BUT a big factor in NOT choosing SeaGate recently would be the sad fact that support centers insist on checking the disk before rendering it incapable if you bring it in for fixing OR exchange . I should add ‘repairing’ a HDD hard disk drive is unheard of (unless the mucho expensive alternative to save your data once contained) and most support centers simply exchange it even for a newer model if it is NOT manufactured anymore .

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Hitachi 2TB Deskstar 7K2000 (SATA2/7200/32M)
HDD (for PC) / SATA 3Gb/s (SATA2) / 2TB capacity / 7,200RPM / 32MB / 8.9cm (3.5″)

the only FAST 2TB capacity HDD Hard Disk Drive in the affordable range a tad above W150,000 .
(I should mention in the Millennium HDD Hard Disk Drives are about the only computer peripheral noteably cheaper in neighboring Japan)

but Hitachi is less popular than WD Western Digital or SeaGate in South Korea, while SamSung is only touted for its no-question asked exchange policy, AND is rather known for noise AND hotter temperature than its competitions mentioned .
(ofcourse you know that you would burn your hands if you keep you hands on most BUT the slower HDD Hard Disk Drives mentioned above)

so feel the calm while it rotates slowly AND relatively cool but be forewarned that relocating files to fill ALL its contents can take hours .

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[ mid-June UpDate on other/newer Alternatives ]

[A] if you are a computer novice AND an expat in South Korea looking to buy a simple single-drive for your new computer set-up :
the safest AND wisest HDD hard disk drive to buy is
SamSung 1TB Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ (SATA2/7200/32M) W74,000
HDD (PC) / SATA 3Gb/s (SATA2) / 1TB / 7,200RPM / 32MB memory / 8.9cm (3.5″)

SamSung’s F3 line is now a dependable domestic alternative with no-BS support all around the Southern Korean Penninsula .

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[B] if you want the most advanced HDD hard disk drive to match your glittering new computer system :
WD 1TB Caviar Black WD1002FAEX (SATA 6Gbps/7200/64M) W108,000
HDD (PC) / SATA 6Gb/s (SATA3) / 1TB / 7,200RPM /64MB memory / 8.9cm (3.5″)

this is for your main drive . uses the latest SATA3 if your latest mainboard or motherboard supports it . thus the fastest in the affordable price range for normal consumer or business use . current WD Western Digital models can be divided into 3 camps : Green, Blue and Black – where Green is the slower for data-storage mentioned in the beginning above and Blue and Black are fast models with Black more faster IF your motherboard supports it .

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[ HDD Hard Disk Drive Price AND Support for Repair of Exchange ]

with so many new products available at competitive prices you do NOT need to fly over to neighboring Japan for one of the electronic districts packed with stuff like no where else in the whole wide World . BUT HDD hard disk drives remain a much cheaper buy in Japan currently. has been for a while . but again, you definitely need close support for such a machine that moves constantly – so buy it in the country where you will be living .

3.5″ HDD hard disk drives for mainframe PC’s sold in South Korea are mostly (in the order of MY preference) Western Digital, SeaGate, SamSung and Fujitsu . then Hitachi and Toshiba come to join for those snuck in notebooks and laptop computers . yes, SDD’s are used in place in smaller NetBooks AND has been used to expedite full-blown PC’s last year but is NOT worth the hefty price this year, even at the light-sabering speed //

each of the manufacturers I mentioned above has usually a handful of importers and the name is shown in a small sticker on top of the product when you buy . manufacturer warranty changes now and then but is now about 2 years and 3 years more for paid service . BUT you have to bring it back to the importer’s support center which is usually ONE single point in the whole Korean Penninsula, usually within YongSan Electronics Market District . if you live afar you simply send in via next-day courrier service costing roughly W4,000.

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– Korea Tech BLog, May 2010 –