Recent news from WD has it that they've pushed the barrier a notch further with current HDD technology, now on the road to producing HDDs with 160GB platters as well as some other added benefits such as "Ramp Load Technology", a proven technique in mobile-class drives that parks the recording heads when the drive is idle, powered off and spinning up. WD utilizes ramp load in its new desktop products to maximize shock robustness and minimize power consumption, enabling continued leadership in quality and long-term reliability.

Check out WD's official announcement here for further details.

Our high density 160 GB-per-platter design with ramp load is a platform that enables WD to continue serving our customers' growing needs for dependable, high capacity hard drives," said John Coyne, WD's president and chief operating officer.

The WD Caviar family of 3.5-inch hard drives delivers high performance with 7,200 RPM spindle speed, 300 MB/s transfer rate, cache sizes up to 16 MB, and Native Command Queuing (NCQ); capacities ranging from 40 GB to 500 GB; and cool operating temperatures and quiet operation, which enable customers to integrate WD products in the most demanding environments.