New Seagate Pipeline HDDs for HD Video Recording

Seagate Technology announced at the 2009 Consumer Electronics show two new additions to the Seagate Pipeline HD family of purpose-built hard drives for Digital Video Recorders — the Pipeline HD Mini and Pipeline HD.2.

Pipeline HD Mini

The Pipeline HD Mini hard drive is the world’s first 2.5-inch drive engineered specifically for use in digital video recorders (DVRs). With 160GB and 250GB capacities now available, DVR manufacturers can benefit from the lower-power performance and slim form factor of these new, smaller hard drives without sacrificing capacity for their content-hungry customers. The Pipeline HD.2 is Seagate’s second generation of the Pipeline HD drive built in a 3.5-inch form factor. These new Pipeline HD.2 hard drives, available in 250GB, 500GB and 1TB capacities, give home entertainment device manufacturers one and two disk, cost-optimized solutions for today’s high definition video recording applications.

Pipeline HD series hard drives achieve superior performance and operation on the three key areas of importance to manufacturers — acoustics, energy efficiency and high reliability. The Pipeline HD.2 and the Pipeline HD Mini hard drives both feature enhanced acoustics for near silent operation, coupled with 24/7 operation capabilities in extended temperature ranges common to consumer electronics applications. The Pipeline HD family also continues Seagate’s commitment to earth-friendly and sustainable products with leading low-power designs and improved usage of recycled and recyclable materials.

"We now live in a media landscape where all information and entertainment, be it video, photos, music or other files, are enabled by digital storage," said Brian Dexheimer, president of Seagate’s Consumer Solutions Division. "When it comes to HD video, there are demands placed on storage that are specific to the CE industry, and Seagate’s latest line of Pipeline HD hard drives is built to meet and exceed these rigorous demands. Additionally, with the imminent, FCC-mandated transition to digital broadcast coming in February 2009, the demand for HD video storage in the home will grow to new heights, and Seagate is ready."

Industry analysts see significant growth for this market: "Forecast DVR shipments will reach more than 52 million units in 2012," says Greg Ireland, research manager in IDC’s Consumer Markets program. "IDC forecasts the market will increase at a compound annual growth rate of 14.3% from 2007-2012, with 2009 shipments expected to top 32 million units."

Operating below the range of audible sound for the human ear at just 21db, the Pipeline HD Mini and Pipeline HD.2 hard drives provide optimized acoustics for purpose-built home entertainment components. The living-room environment demands superior acoustic management to limit audible distractions during operation of DVRs and Media Center PCs, and Pipeline HD series hard drives enable designers to build the quietest home entertainment systems possible.

In keeping with Seagate’s goal of delivering sustainable products through its advanced manufacturing processes, both the Pipeline HD.2 and Pipeline HD Mini hard drives are made up of 50% recycled materials with 75% of the materials being recyclable. These drives also contribute to sustainable energy initiatives by achieving a 52% improvement in power savings over previous generations. The Pipeline HD Series of hard drives is also built without the use of harmful chemicals like the fire retardant bromide and is PVC free.

Seagate Pipeline HD Series Hard Drive
Seagate’s Pipeline HD Mini and Pipeline HD.2 drives will be available in the first half of 2009. With up to 1TB of available storage, the new Pipeline HD series of drives allows DVRs to capture up to 200 hours of exciting high-definition (HD) television or up to 1,000 hours of standard definition television and supports up to 10 simultaneous streams of HD video for optimal playback and recording of television programming. Pipeline HD Series drives are Microsoft Vista certified ensuring the drives can work seamlessly for both DVR and Media Center PCs. The new line of purpose-built hard drives are also designed to perform reliably at the widest range of industry standard operating temperatures — capable of operating at drive case temperatures up to 75 degrees C and with the improved system reliability, the drives increase the field life of DVRs and home media centers computers.