Introduction

As we outlined in our recent MPF3xxxAH review, it's extremely difficult for us at StorageReview.com to get our hands on drives from Fujitsu, a company we consider one of the "big six" consumer drive companies. Fortunately, we managed to get our hands on a sample of Fujitsu's latest in the ATA sector to complete our look at contemporary 7200rpm ATA drives from all major manufacturers. We're pleased to report that we've also obtained Fujitsu's latest 10k RPM unit, the MAJ3xxx.

The specs accompanying the MAJ3xxx are impressive. The drive manages to pack 7.3 gigs of data on a single platter, matching the areal density found on Quantum's Atlas 10k II and exceeding the densities of the IBM Ultrastar 36LZX and Seagate Cheetah 36LP. As a result, Fujitsu requires just 5 platters to achieve the flagship capacity of 36.4 gigs. The review sample tested here is an 18 gigabyte model; as usual, however, one can expect the performance differences between the 18 and 36 gig versions to be minimal.

The unit's seek time is specified at an impressive 4.7 milliseconds, again matching the Atlas 10k II while transcending offerings from IBM and Seagate. A 4-megabyte buffer, standard for today's 10k RPM units, rounds out the package. As one would expect, the drive is protected by an enterprise-class 5-year warranty.

Let's see how these impressive specifications add up with our battery of tests!

 Low-Level Measurements...