Maxtor Rocks on With DiamondMax 10

If you’re in the market for high-performance hard drives, Maxtor announced that it recently began shipping its new DiamondMax 10 hard drives. Available online and through resellers such as Buy.com, the DiamondMax 10 is aimed at anyone who needs fast, dependable performance.

Small businesses that run lots of multimedia programs or work with graphics- or calculation-heavy applications might consider this drive. Available in a variety of capacities up to 300GB, the DiamondMax 10 offers plenty of storage space.

Martin Parry, Maxtor’s senior product marketing manager, offered his take on the drive’s suitability for small businesses:

“For more than 20 years, Maxtor has been a trusted provider of hard drive solutions. In today’s competitive business environment, a reliable and effective PC system is an essential tool for a small business.”

“Whether the task is business computing, multimedia applications, or managing Internet-based applications, our new DiamondMax 10 hard drives deliver an unparalleled combination of capacity, speed and reliability.”

The DiamondMax 10 features — and the benefits they offer in the real world — include:

  • SATA
    A Serial -ATA drive connects with a serial cable instead of that wide, flat ribbon that snakes through the PC.

    It means better air circulation and less heat build up. It also allows for smaller CPU designs.

  • 7200 RPM
    RPM refers to the rotational speed of the hard disk. Higher RPMs increase performance.
  • 16MB Cache Buffer
    Available on 250GB and 300GB capacities. A cache buffer stores frequently used data, making access to that data much faster and thus significantly increasing hard drive performance.
  • Native Command Queuing (NCQ)
    This technology reorders data so that it’s retrieved in a more efficient manner.

    A hard drive without NCQ searches for data like a mail man who delivers mail to the house across the street, drives four miles to deliver the next letter, and then returns to deliver your mail.

    A drive with NCQ rearranges the search list based on how close the data are.

  • Pricing and Availability

    The DiamondMax 10 with an 8MB buffer is available in 80-, 120-, 160- and 200GB capacities, while the DiamondMax 10 with a 16MB buffer is available in 250- and 300GB capacities.


    Maxtor's DiamondMax 10 hard drive
    Maxtor’s DiamondMax 10 SATA drives feature 16MB buffers — the largest available.

    Maxtor shipped the DiamondMax 10 drives into OEM and reseller channels; the drives are not available in retail stores. As for pricing, the company makes it a policy not to release that information — way to go, Maxtor. Customer friendly? We think not.

    Currently, Buy.com is the only reseller we found that has the DiamondMax 10 in stock. (250GB Serial ATA 150 — Model number: 6B250S0) They’re selling it for $242.99.

    Other resellers should be stocking the drives soon, but don’t be surprised if you can’t find any right away — Maxtor is notoriously slow at getting product into the channel.

    Check with your local resellers for their pricing and availability. You’ll also find a list of resellers who carry Maxtor products on the company site.

    Lauren Simonds is the managing editor of SmallBusinessComputing.com

    Do you have a comment or question about this article or other small business topics in general? Speak out in the SmallBusinessComputing.com Forums. Join the discussion today!

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