For the first time since we began tracking Serial ATA (SATA) drives in January 2004, their average selling price was lower than for an equivalent parallel ATA drive--$141 vs. parallel's $142. In that same timeframe, a SATA drive's average selling price has dropped 49% compared to 44% for parallel drives. In other pricing news, Hewlett-Packard's (HP) SureStore Ultrium 230 tape drive saw its end-of-life last month, and many vendors have ceased carrying it. According to an HP spokesperson, the company will replace it with the Ultrium 460, which is based on LTO-2 technology and lists for $3,199.

Hard disk drives

Tape drives

Media