Conclusion

Though our tests were conducted with silent operation disabled, the DiamondMax 80 was nonetheless fairly quiet. Seeks are muted, noticeable only in seek intensive tests such as ZD's Disk Access test. We recommend that the drive be run with quiet mode disabled outside of noise-sensitive applications. Though it is one of the few drives that maintains four platters, the DM80 nevertheless runs only warm to the touch even after hours of thrashing. It's easily incorporated into any system.

Overall, the DiamondMax 80 provides acceptable though not overwhelming performance. Its main claim-to-fame is its staggering capacity. If you want 80 gigs in a low profile drive, it's your only choice. The 75 GB IBM Deskstar 75GXP will deliver similar capacity, but it's much more expensive in comparison... one pays dearly for the 7200 RPM operation. As a result, the DM80 is currently one's premiere (and only) choice for huge, inexpensive, mass storage.