Submission + - New WD Black2 Dual Drive Combines Full SSD and HDD in Same 2.5-in Package (pcper.com)
Vigile writes: Hybrid drives are not new to the computing world as the benefits of a hard drive with a large(-ish) NAND cache are well known. But desktop users will likely agree that having a full capacity SSD as a primary drive with a secondary, spindle based hard drive for mass storage is the most popular solution. For many notebook users that simply isn't an option as space is limited in most laptop chassis but today's brand new Dual Drive, the Black2 from Western Digital, mixes things up. In a single 2.5-in hard drive form factor, WD has packed a 120GB SSD in addition to a 1TB hard drive that share a single SATA connection and that can be installed in systems with a single drive bay. This isn't a hybrid, Windows sees two different partitions. There are some interesting software quirks and the SSD performance is middle of the road based on PC Perspective's testing, but the Black2 performs well enough in both SSD and HDD testing to get their full recommendation.