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Between huge presentations and irresistible MP3 audio files, most of us are maxing out hard drives like never before. But just as we were drowning in downloads, to our rescue come two huge new drives--IBM's 75GB Deskstar 75GXP and Maxtor's 60GB DiamondMax 60. Both of them promise speedy passage across a sea of large files.

When it comes to storage capacity, the IBM beats the Maxtor and every other IDE hard drive on the market today. With 75GB of storage space, the 7200-rpm IBM Deskstar nearly doubles the capacity of the previous generation of desktop hard drives. It also features glass platters, which are less prone to noise vibration and less likely to warp from heat than standard aluminum platters.

For a good deal, the Maxtor is the way to go. Even with its slower 5400-rpm rotational speed and aluminum platters, it's still a better buy at $329, costing a little over half as much as the $625 IBM.

At $5.48 per GB, the Maxtor also beats today's least expensive 20GB, 5400-rpm drives, which go for $120, or $6 per GB. The IBM works out to $8.33 per GB--expensive even for a 7200-rpm drive.

Test Cruise

I took the 3.5-inch drives on an informal test cruise using a 300-MHz Celeron PC with a Promise Ultra66 interface card. Overall, both drives performed a tad quicker than current IDE hard drives.

The IBM--thanks to its 7200-rpm rotational speed and 8.5-millisecond random access time--ran Windows 98 navigation tasks a bit faster than the Maxtor, which has a 9.5ms random access time. The IBM also opened apps a little more speedily.

But in transferring files, the Maxtor took the lead. I transferred a folder with 430MB worth of files (each averaging about 100KB) across partitions, and the Maxtor finished the task 2 seconds ahead of the IBM. Although you won't notice a difference in day-to-day tasks, those couple of seconds can come in handy if you're transferring lots of files.

I heard little or no noise when running the drives. The Maxtor, however, ran a bit more quietly than the IBM.

Both drives have features designed to prevent damage. Maxtor's are slightly more impressive. Its ShockBlock technology is rated to withstand up to 250 Gs (the force of gravity) of nonoperating shock--impressive for a hard drive that's designed to be used in desktop computers.

A Few Caveats

Before you buy, take note of a few hard-drive foibles. With all your data in one vessel, a drive failure means you can lose all your valuable data at once, and recovering it can be expensive. Drive Savers recovery service, for example, charges a minimum fee of $1200 for a 60GB or 75GB unit, compared to $600 for a 20GB model, says Drive Savers representative Nikki Stange.

In most cases, you won't easily be able to back up one of these drives unattended, because no single desktop backup media even approaches the capacity of these drives. It would take about four 20GB Travan 20 (TR-5) or two 40GB DDS-4 DAT tapes to back up one 75GB hard drive filled to capacity. Your best bet for keeping data safe is to use a second hard drive on your PC.

And when you consider the cost of purchasing two drives, the Maxtor DiamondMax 60 looks even more attractive.

A Peek Ahead

In terms of overall value, there's simply no contest--the Maxtor is the best choice. However, the impressively designed IBM, with its glass disc platters and ultrahigh capacity, provides performance advantages.

For basic PC use, it's hard to imagine filling these drives to the brim, though even larger-capacity drives are under way. But some vendors, including Quantum and Seagate, think few buyers want 75GB or higher capacity in a desktop.

By next spring, says Danielle Levitas, International Data Corporation's research manager of storage devices, the maximum platter capacity will increase from 15GB to 20GB, which means that 100GB IDE hard drives are just beyond the next iceberg.

SUMMARY

IBM Deskstar 75GXP Street price: $625 888/426-5214 www.ibm.com/harddrive

SUMMARY

Maxtor DiamondMax 60 Street price: $329 800/262-9867 www.maxtor.com