hard drive history

Photo: Red Hill.

Seagate Medalist 2132

A fine drive, but introduced a little too late and shaded by faster models already available from IBM, Quantum and Western Digital. It was a little cheaper than most and worth considering where speed was not so important.

In the illustration, the one on the right is upside down; notice the unusual metal shield over the electronics. Seagate started doing this on a small number of drives a year or so before this model came out. Almost every Seagate drive was shielded by 1998 or 1999. JTS started the trend, putting shields on all its drives. The idea caught on fast and soon became a standard feature on several brands.

Also notice, though it's a little hard to see in this view, the distinctive Seagate "boat shape" casing, first seen in 100MB days, and common to a great many mid-range Seagate drives over the years: the Medalist 2132 was the very last of them.