Caviar SE16

This Western Digital Caviar SE16 family is Western Digital's range of performance-grade desktop hard drives. Unlike their GreenPower (GP) series, the Caviar SE16 hard drives have a spindle speed of 7200 RPM.

The number 16 in SE16 refers to the size of the onboard disk cache. All Caviar SE16 drives have a large 16 MB SDRAM buffer. They also make use of Perpendicular Magnetic Recording to achieve a high areal density for greater storage capacity and improved performance.

At press time, Western Digital has six Caviar SE16 models with capacities from 250 GB to 750 GB. The model we are reviewing today is their 750 GB model which uses four platters to deliver its large capacity.

All Caviar SE16 hard drives support the following features :

IntelliSeek™ - Calculates optimum seek speeds to lower power consumption, noise, and vibration.

SecurePark™ - Parks the recording heads off the disk surface during spin up, spin down and when the drive is off.  This ensures the recording head never touches the disk surface resulting in improved long term reliability due to less head wear, and improved non- operational shock tolerance.

Data Lifeguard™ - Automatically finds, isolates, and repairs problems that may develop over the life of a hard drive using an exclusive set of data protection features, including shock protection, an environmental protection system and real-time embedded error detection and repair.

ShockGuard™ - Instantaneously protects the hard drive against damage from bumps and vibrations while it is running.

There is one difference though. The largest 750 GB model supports an additional feature :

StableTrac™ - Secures the motor shaft at both ends to reduce system-induced vibration and stabilize platters for accurate tracking, during read and write operations

Packaging

The Caviar SE16 hard drive we obtained for this review was an OEM unit. Like most OEM hard drives, it came in just a sealed anti-static plastic packet with nothing more than a sachet of dessicants to keep it dry. Other than the sparse packaging (and the lack of any documentation), this drive is no different from the retail version, right down to the 3-year warranty.

All you need to do is just cut open the plastic packet and slide out the drive. Be sure to ground yourself before handling the drive as static can damage it. In particular, you should try to avoid touching the exposed PCB located at the base of the drive.

If you like your packaging or need to deliver this hard drive by mail, you can always opt for the retail version of the drive. It comes with its own box and proper padding to ensure the drive survives a mail delivery. Of course, the retail package comes with a price premium.