314GB PiDrive for Raspberry Pi on Sale for Only $31

Mar 16, 2016 09:37 AM EDT

Western Digital recently announced that it is releasing a new hard drive specifically tailored for the Raspberry Pi minicomputer system.

(Photo : Reuters) The 1TB model of PiDrive costs $79.99. On the other hand, the 314GB model, in true Pi fashion, is available for a limited time discount of 31.4 percent which will bring its price down to $31.42.

Western Digital has announced that it is releasing a new hard drive specifically tailored for the Raspberry Pi minicomputer system. The drive called PiDrive is available in two storage variants; 314GB and 1TB.

For Raspberry Pi enthusiasts, one of the biggest hurdles is finding the best storage option. The Raspberry Pi supports SD card but it does not hold much data. On the other hand, USB drives require way too much power for a minicomputer like Raspberry Pi.

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In a statement, Western Digital division WD Labs said, "The WD PiDrive 314 GB HDD is designed to support Raspberry Pi growth by addressing barriers to hard drive adoption such as affordability, power loading and system set-up."

Western Digital claims that the PiDrive will not overwhelm the power system of a Raspberry Pi. Moreover, the drive is said to be also fast enough to make full use of the USB port connection.

On the software side of things, the PiDrive supports BerryBoot, a multi-operation system tool that allow users to load the platform of their choice. According to Engadget, BerryBoot also allow users to load multiple operating systems or programs into the drive at boot. BerryBoot can be downloaded on the official website of Western Digital.

The 1TB model of PiDrive costs $79.99. On the other hand, the 314GB model, in true Pi fashion, is available for a limited time discount of 31.4 percent which will bring its price down to $31.42. While the pricing and storage space may look odd, it is important to note that the mathematical symbol Pi has a value of 3.14. Once the limited promotion ends, the 314GB PiDrive will have a regular price of $45.

The team behind the development of the PiDrive claims that while not all external hard drives are compatible with Raspberry Pi boards, the PiDrives are fully compatible. The team was able to achieve this by tweaking the drive's magnetic recording and electrical set points in order to reduce its power draw.

TagsWD, Western Digital, PiDrive, PiDrive price, PiDrive capacity, raspberry pi, PiDrive 1TB, PiDrive 314GB