Western Digital hard drives receive 'gear of the year' award from Maximum PC magazine

The 120 GB model from the popular line of high-end EIDE 7,200 RPM hard drives received the Gear of the Year; Award from the magazine, which published the news in its December 2002 issue.

Maximum PC also awarded Western Digital's 80 GB WD Caviar SE model top performance honors against competitors in a roundup comparison test. "Sporting massive 8 MB data buffers and incredible areal density, Western Digital's WD Caviar Special Edition drives prove that consumers don't need SCSI for killer, no-excuses desktop performance," said Jon Phillips, editor-in-chief for Maximum PC magazine. "Western Digital's successful formula has made it the leader in high-performance desktop drives."

The Gear of the Year award is given by Maximum PC's editorial board for products that have been tested and verified by the magazine as the best of breed for the year. Only one product from each category is chosen. Western Digital's120 GB WD Caviar SE was selected the 2002 winner for the Internal Hard Drive category.

Many PC trade and enthusiast press have chosen WD Caviar SE hard drives as the best-performing products in their class. Their reviews can be viewed at: www.wdc.com/products/productreviews/.

Richard E. Rutledge, vice president of marketing for Western Digital, said, "Recognition from the top authorities in the industry, time and time again, is rewarding to our team - a team that has performed admirably in consistently making the WD Caviar Special Edition line the best desktop hard drives available. Our ultimate goal is to provide customers with products they want, and their high demand for these drives demonstrates that they want only the best. That is what we plan to continue delivering."