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I've been waiting for this one a long time. It's about time they finally made a dual platter using two 320GB platters for increased efficiency and speed (low access times). I currently have 2 x 640GB Western Digitals running in my desktop (7200RPM of course) and wanted one for my laptop. Unfortunately it wasn't available at the time, so I had to settle on a Seagate 7200.4 500GB which does have 2 platters (2x250GB). It's only a matter of time before the 7200RPM comes along but the 5400RPM should be plenty fast. The good news is it's 9.5mm and so it will work in all notebooks, laptops, and netbooks! Western Digital recently released 1TB 2.5" drives, but they were 12.5mm and so they WON'T fit in anyhting but a fat enclosure or desktop/server rig. In essence, they cheated..... Toshiba sure wins with this one. Let the hard drive wars continue!

Specs of the new drive:

• 640GB Capacity
• 5400RPM Maximum Speed (Rotation)
• 8MB Buffer (seems a bit small, but plenty adequate)
• SATA II Interface (3Gb/s)

Full Press Release and picture after the break

Everyone's been waiting for the Panasonic LX3/D-Lux 4's replacement all year, and today, we kinda finally have it! It's a new 12.1 megapixel micro 4/3 camera from Panasonic and is comprable to the Olympus E-P1 mini "SLR." On the outside, it looks very much like the LX3 with the rectangular design and grip. High ISO up to about 1600ISO (maximum is 3200 ISO) looks pretty decent I must say for a tiny little camera. The advantage of course comes from the relatively large micro 4/3 sensor. I may just have to pick one of these up with the 20mm F/1.7 pancake lens in the future, when the price comes down. I still hope they rellease an LX4/5 soon. I'm almost certain they will. They need a camera in the $400 price range to compete with Canon's latest point and shoot offerings, the PowerShot G11 and S90IS.

DPReview has a hands-on preview.

Preview and ISO samples at Imaging-Resource

You can pre-order it now for $899 with either the 20mm F/1.7 Pancake (40mm equivalent in 35mm terms) or the other kit lens, the 14-45mm lens at Amazon.com. It should be released this October!

Press release after the break

The naming might be odd, but it looks like Canon wanted to distinguish itself from Nikon and not confuse their next APS-C camera with the entry-level Nikon D60. By going to a single digit, this camera represents a higher-end Canon joining the ranks of the 5D Mark II and 1D and 1Ds line. Canon sure pulled out all the stops on this camera as well. It blows Nikon's latest APS-C offering, the D300s out of the water completely. Not only is it built upon an entirely new Sensor, but it even builds upon the 5D's stunning video capabilities offering full HD 1920x1080 30p, cinematic 24p, and 25p framerates as well as 1280x720 60p! It's also $100 cheaper! The D300s was a minor update on the two year old D300 and only features a 1280x720p video at 24 frames per second. In addition to the sensor and movie mode, Canon has also brightened up the viewfinder, added a horizon leveler (like the D300s), rearranged some buttons (now more ergonomic), and tweaked the exposure metering and auto-focus system!

What I like about this camera is the redesigned body, autofocus tweaks, 1080p movie modes, and the ability to shoot at 12,800 ISO if needed! The only thing that could be improved are reduced shutter artifacting during movie modes and an AF Illuminator instead of using the flash as one. The little white dot on the front right of the camera is for the self-timer.

You can pre-order the EOS 7D for $1699 (body only) or $1899 with the 18-135mm EF-S IS F/3.5-5.6 Kit Lens at Amazon.com

See the full press release and what all the fuss is about after the break.

Today Canon has unveiled three new lenses with the launch of the EOS 7D, their new flagship APS-C digital SLR. The first two lenses are EF-S (crop) lenses and are 15-85mm F/3.5-5.6 and 18-135mm F/3.5-5.6. They are priced at $799 and $499 respectively and both feature IS stabilization. They seem ok, nothing too groundbreaking. They are afterall refreshes of old lenses. It would be interesting to see how well the 15-85mm EF-S performs compared to the Sony 16-80mm CZ F/3.5-4.5 which is in the same price range, but has a faster aperture.

The lens that really excites me is the 100mm F/2.8 L IS Macro! It's about time they add another red-striped macro lens to compete against Nikon's acclaimed 105mm VR macro. It is priced at $1049.99. This one features their new hybrid IS technology which was recently introduced which allows stabilization on both the vertical and horizontal plane, something Sony already does with their SSS (Super Steady Shot) stabilization built into all of their cameras. This new hybrid IS though is supposed to give about 2 stops of stabilization at the greatest (1:1) magnification. That would really come in handy for those up close shots when you don't have a flash handy.

You can pre-order any or all of the three lenses right now at Amazon.com at the MSRP.

Press release and images after the break.