SCOTTS VALLEY, Calif., -- Seagate Technology today announced its new Barracuda ATA III, the industry's only fourth-generation 7,200-rpm ATA disc drive. Barracuda ATA III is ideally suited for mainstream and high-performance commercial desktop PCs and economical ATA RAID systems. It offers industry-leading performance for business users and maximum power for consumer enthusiasts. With Seagate's 3D Defense System, Barracuda ATA III can withstand 350 Gs non-operating shock -- higher than any other 7,200-rpm drive.

Barracuda ATA III ships with the industry's only tested, mature, third-generation Fluid Dynamic Bearing (FDB) motor as an option, for improved acoustics, reduced vibration, longer life and increased shock resistance. Seagate is the only company shipping FDB motors in volume, having shipped almost 3 million since Seagate developed and delivered the world's first fluid dynamic bearing motor for hard drives in 1996.

For performance-oriented users, Barracuda ATA III offers the fastest internal transfer rate available on any ATA disc drive, at 500 Mb/sec. This is a 37 percent increase over earlier drives. Barracuda ATA III also features a new 80-MHz processor for a 25 percent increase in processing speed. With its Ultra ATA/100 Interface, 8.9-msec seek, and 2-Mbyte buffer, it's the drive of choice for ATA RAID subsystems. The drive is available in capacities up to 40 Gbytes.

"Consumers are now demanding the performance that only 7,200-rpm drives can provide," said Brian Dexheimer, executive vice president, Worldwide Sales, Marketing and Customer Service. "Compared with 5,400-rpm drives, high-speed disc drives improve overall PC performance. In tests performed by Seagate's lab, our 7,200-rpm drives increased performance by 21 percent in Windows 98 systems. In Office 2000 applications, execution was 32 percent faster. Installing Adobe PhotoShop was 33 percent faster. A 7200-rpm Barracuda ATA III drive is a low-cost upgrade that significantly improves user productivity."

Seagate's 3D Defense System continues to prove its value as the industry's best disc, data and diagnostic protection. Since implementing its G Force Protection technology, product return rates have decreased by 60 to 75 percent. Similarly, upon implementing SeaShell packaging, many of Seagate's distribution channel customers and major OEMs have seen damaged product drop to almost nothing. Seagate's unique SeaTools helps users quickly determine whether their drive is functioning when a PC fails, eliminating the need to remove and return a healthy drive. A recent survey of SeaTools users illustrates that 40 percent of customer drives that were candidates for returns were actually good drives and did not come back to Seagate -- SeaTools saved customers' return costs, time and data.

"Seagate's 3D Defense System improves reliability and lowers overall cost to our customers," said Dexheimer. "It provides industry-leading robustness, reduces handling damage and dramatically lowers the number of disc drives returned for repair. Barracuda ATA III also features Seagate's exclusive Enhanced DST, which collects data in the background as a drive is running. Now, when a user runs SeaTools, a very accurate test can be completed in less than two minutes, compared with the 40-minute test required by competitors' drives."

Seagate is the leading storage partner for the PC, consumer electronics and enterprise storage industries, with industry-leading sales and market share confirmed by independent analysts.

Seagate is a leading provider of the Internet Infrastructure enabling people to store, access, and manage information. The Company is committed to providing best-in-class products to help people get information when, where and how they want it. Seagate is the world's largest manufacturer of disc drives, magnetic discs and read-write heads, an innovator in tape drives, Storage Area Network (SAN) solutions and a leading developer of Business Intelligence software. Seagate can be found around the globe and at http://www.seagate.com. For automated news, stock and financial information by phone, dial toll-free 877-SEG-NYSE. Outside the U.S. and Canada, dial 760-704-4368.

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