Western Digital has followed up its clear top Raptor – so that modders can see the hard disk platters – with a 500GB Serial ATA drive.

The WD Caviar SE16 uses a four platter design, spins at 7,200rpm, has a 300MB/s transfer rate and 16MB cache.

The company says it’s designed to run cooler and quieter, which will attract anyone that wants to use the drive in an entertainment PC. It’s available in the US now for $350, but won't be in the UK for a few weeks.

It’s also come out with a 2.5in 120GB laptop hard drive, the WD Scorpio. These have either EIDE or Sata interfaces and a spin speed of 5,400rpm.

Although aimed at laptops, at CES Seagate showed off its 2.5in drives, and said it was working with Humax to integrate them into flat panel TVs to work as an inbuilt PVR. So this could be a new market for manufacturers in the future. 

We've got a WD Caviar SE16 coming in for review, and will post as soon as it's been tested.