Western Digital, the world’s No. 2 largest maker of hard disk drives (HDDs), said Monday it had begun shipments of its 750GB hard disk drives, currently the largest capacity that the company offers.

WD’s Caviar SE16 GL188 offers 750GB capacity, 7200rpm rotational speed, 16MB cache, 4.2ms average latency and sustained buffer to disk 70MB/s data transfer rate. The Caviar SE16 GL188 is designed for systems that support Serial ATA-300 interconnection as well as native command queuing technology. The HDD is based on four platters which capacity is currently unclear. The new model also supports an array of WD’s own technologies that improve reliability and decrease power consumption.

“WD knows that there is nothing more important than our customers’ data. Uniquely, our new desktop hard drive brings together SecurePark for better shock characteristics, StableTrac for better vibration performance, and IntelliSeek to reduce power consumption. These proven features will further WD’s lead as the most reliable desktop products,” said Don Bennett, WD vice president and general manager of desktop storage.

The new hard drive from Western Digital is unveiled about a year after Seagate Technology initiated shipments of its 750GB models and months after Hitachi started to ship its 1GB drives.

WD Caviar SE16 750GB (model WD7500AAKS) hard drives may be ordered on the company's online store and through select distributors and resellers. Manufacturer’s suggest retail price (MSRP) for the WD Caviar SE16 750GB is $249 USD.