On the capacity front we have already reviewed solid state drives with 512GB of capacity, quite a bit more than the first 300GB VelociRaptor, but of course the cost was more than what six 300GB VelociRaptors would be. It was still a contributing reason why Western Digital should take a good look at the series and either kill it or update it with a new product line as quickly as possible.

Given that it is now April, quick wasn’t really on Western Digital’s deck since we have been hearing rumors of a new VelociRaptor since CES back in January. Looking at how the market has changed since that time, it is easy to dissect why. SATA 6G has had a few ups and downs with Marvell slow to act on driver issues that affect performance. Getting in a good test with SATA 6G and an existing drive, the Caviar Black 1GB with SATA 6G was the next logical step and would have moved a new VelociRaptor back. Western Digital has also spent a great deal of time working on a solid state drive product line and we have already seen the first fruit fall from the WD SSD tree last month.