Quantum's big two selling points for this drive are its areal density (how much data you can squeeze into a unit of platter space) and its operating noise, with the company claiming both that the drive is whisper quiet in operation, and, at the time of launch in June 2000, that it was the first 15GB per platter hard drive range. The LCT in the name stands for 'low-cost technology', and this drive certainly falls into the entry-level price bracket, while, from our impressions, still delivering good performance.

The drive has been made quieter by a combination of sound deadening materials and by using a spin speed of 4,400rpm in place of the more conventional 5,400rpm for drives in this class. This spin speed is lower than many of the drive's competitors, but the high areal density should compensate where seek times are concerned, and the lower speed does significantly reduce the operating noise; a claimed 31dB in operating mode, or 28 when idle, which Quantum claims to be among the quietest in the world.

Available in a range that includes 7.5B, 15GB, 20.5GB and 30GB capacities, the LCT 15 drive uses the Ultra-ATA/66 interface - backward compatible with Ultra-ATA/33 - and is fitted with a 512KB data buffer to improve performance. The particular drive we reviewed, the 20.4GB model, uses three active recording surfaces, and has an average seek time of 12ms. A one year warranty is provided with all the drives in the range, while there's also the option of a retail boxed drive rather than the standard bare model.