Hitachi GST has built a 2TB drive, according to online drive retailer J&R.

The HD32000IDK7 is a 2TB 3.5-inch SATA Deskstar drive spinning at 7200rpm and priced at $269.99. It's not yet available, but is said to be coming soon. The current maximum Deskstar capacity is 1TB.

Western Digital's 2TB Caviar Green desktop drive has four platters and spins at 5400rpm. WD also has a 2TB enterprise RE4-GP (Green Power) drive. Seagate has a 2TB Barracuda LP drive which rotates at 5900rpm.

Western Digital apears to have a 7200rpm 2TB Caviar Black coming, with Hexus guessing at a price around $300. A 7400rpm 2TB Deskstar would give Hitachi GST an access time edge, and it will be interesting to see if the power consumption is in the same area as the 5200 and 5400rpm 2TB drives from Seagate and Western Digital.

According to supplier datasheets, the Barracuda LP draws 5.5 watts when idle and 6.8 watts when operating, the 2TB Caviar Green draws 6 watts in operating mode and 3.7 watts when idle, and WD's enterprise 2TB RE4-GP drive needs 6.8 watts when operating and 3.7 watts in idle mode.

The HGST 2TB drive looks to have a price and access time advantage over the WD drives. If it has the same power draw characteristics then it could be a formidable competitor.

Thanks to Hexus for pointing out the J&R site. ®