Maxtor Technical Documentation

[John A]

I'm looking for detailed technical information on a Maxtor STM3250820A
drive - at least that is how it is described at Ebuyer.com. I cannot find
any direct reference at maxtor.com, and only a sketchy, 2-sheet, pdf on the
Diamondmax 21 family at

http://www.maxtor.com/_files/maxtor...a_sheets/diamondmax20_and_21_datasheet_en.pdf

Any ideas gratefully received.

John

 

[Grinder]

I'm looking for detailed technical information on a Maxtor STM3250820A
drive - at least that is how it is described at Ebuyer.com. I cannot find
any direct reference at maxtor.com, and only a sketchy, 2-sheet, pdf on the
Diamondmax 21 family at

http://www.maxtor.com/_files/maxtor...a_sheets/diamondmax20_and_21_datasheet_en.pdf

Any ideas gratefully received.

Is this more like what you're looking for?

http://www.dabs.com/ProductView.aspx?Quicklinx=4B7T&fb=413&InMerch=1&v=2#infoarea

I can't vouch for it's accuracy, so maybe you can compare with other
resources:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=STM3250820A+spec

Search for a particular specification may also be of use:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=STM3250820A+latency

 

[John A]

Thanks, Grinder. I'd already dab'ed and googled. The dabs stuff is as
lightweight as the maxtor site's document - although I did find more
up-to-date versions of the maxtor document on third party sites - strange!
Maxtor seem to be in a mess - otherwise they'd keep their website up to
date. I'm actually trying to find out the sustained transfer rate - which
third parties report as "N/A", "?", ">65" and ">83" - inconsistent and with
none of the measurement conditions needed to make the data of any real use.

 

[Rod Speed]

I'm looking for detailed technical information on a Maxtor STM3250820A
drive - at least that is how it is described at Ebuyer.com. I cannot
find any direct reference at maxtor.com, and only a sketchy, 2-sheet,
pdf on the Diamondmax 21 family at

http://www.maxtor.com/_files/maxtor...a_sheets/diamondmax20_and_21_datasheet_en.pdf

Looks like that is the result of the buyout of Maxtor by Seagate.

STM3250820A is very close to a Seagate ST3250820A and
its not that surprising that the M is the first letter of Maxtor.

Does its basic details, size etc, match the ST3250820A ?
http://www.seagate.com/ww/v/index.j...7f53d010VgnVCM100000dd04090aRCRD&locale=en-US

 

[John A]

Well, originally I did have it mind that I might end up getting an
ST3250820A drive at a lower than ST price. The spec of the STM - as noted
from third-party sites - does look to be slightly different, however - e.g.
Sustained Transfer rate for the ST: 72Mbyte/sec.

I guess that I'll just have to wait and see what turns up!

Thanks for your input.

 

[Rod Speed]

Well, originally I did have it mind that I might end up getting an
ST3250820A drive at a lower than ST price. The spec of the STM
- as noted from third-party sites - does look to be slightly different,
however - e.g. Sustained Transfer rate for the ST: 72Mbyte/sec.

I'd be surprised if that is any different, essentially because thats determined
by the drive physical characteristics, sectors per track and RPM.

It wouldnt be surprising if say the cache size was different,
but that wont affect the sustained transfer rate in real life
use with modern OSs in personal desktop systems.

I guess that I'll just have to wait and see what turns up!

Thanks for your input.

Please post what it turns out to be in the flesh.

 

[kony]

Well, originally I did have it mind that I might end up getting an
ST3250820A drive at a lower than ST price. The spec of the STM - as noted
from third-party sites - does look to be slightly different, however - e.g.
Sustained Transfer rate for the ST: 72Mbyte/sec.

I guess that I'll just have to wait and see what turns up!

Thanks for your input.

Those I have received are same as the corresponding Seagate
but with only 3 instead of 5 year warranty, and of course
the label says Maxtor.

 

[John A]

Whilst waiting for the drive to be delivered I emailed Maxtor asking where I
could find data on the STM3250820A, there being nothing on the Maxtor site
other than references to the Diamondmax21 family - but with old-style Maxtor
numbers - not STM.

This produced an email from Seagate - yes Seagate - Ireland telling me to
look for it on the Seagate site. This despite Seagate's home page telling
you to go to the Maxtor site for Maxtor Drives. Hmm.

On the Seagate site was the same two-page flyer - but with the Maxtor
numbers replaced by STM ones - but no real data. Progress of some sort!

I emailed Seagate again, then again, asking where option jumper link data
might be found - and if the Maxtor STM3250820A was the same as Seagate's
ST3250820A. They gave me a link for the settings and an assurance that the
two drives were the same - just a different label stuck on the top.

When I followed the link I found that the jumper for the STM was very
different from that of the ST drive. Different number of pins, different
functions. Different. So I emailed back - very politely - asking what was
the real situation. Got a non-answer. I also asked what was the appropriate
OEM supports software - Maxtor's or Seagate's. "Obviously" - don't you hate
it when bullshitters say "Obviously"? - "Obviously, you can use either".

Now, what eventually (snow-delayed) turned up? A drive with a Maxtor label
on it. The type number? It is a 6A250V. What???

Further down the label was a barcode which decrypts as STM3250820A.

Then further down it is a 7200.10 - the code for a Seagate Barracuda drive.

OK, so the score is Maxtor 2, Seagate 1. What about the option links? Maxtor
has five option links, Seagate only four. Damn, there are only four - Maxtor
2, Seagate 2.

Well, "Obviously" the tie-breaker will be the OEM support software, so what
did Maxtor MAXBLAST4 make of it? "No Maxtor Drives Found" - obviously!


Well, Rod, you asked!


Oh, BTW, the drive works fine - quiet and not too hot in action - and with a
sustained transfer rate (important to me - not to Seagate, they tell me) of
about 67Mbyte/sec.