Samsung SpinPoint F1 (640GB) review
in Hard disks
Verdict
Good performance, an improved specification and excellent value.
Review Date: 29 Apr 2009
Reviewed By: Mike Jennings
Price when reviewed: £46 (£53 inc VAT)
Buy it now for: £64
(see more store prices)
Overall Rating
Features & Design
Value for Money
Performance
Samsung's 500GB SpinPoint F1 may disappoint, but the 640GB version is far more promising. There's a healthier 16MB cache, and the two 320GB platters offer vastly improved performance over the two 250GB platters of the smaller drive.
The 640GB SpinPoint managed an impressive 91.4MB/sec in our read test with an access time of 13ms - a result that was only beaten by a couple of other drives this month. File writing was no problem either, with the 81.7MB/sec speed and 3ms access time impressing.
A burst speed of 217.8MB/sec is reasonably quick and an average sequential read speed of 96.3MB/sec is far better than the 500GB drive's 67.6MB/sec result - although the Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 640GB disk was quicker still.
The 640GB SpinPoint offers good value for money: at £46, it's actually a penny per gigabyte cheaper than the 500GB drive. It's also far cheaper than the equivalent Seagate drive, and so well worth consideration.
Author: Mike Jennings
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