Seagate had extended its 'U series' of hard drives with the new U8 models. Volume production is set for September with evaluation models currently doing the rounds. They will be available in capacities of 17.2, 13.0, 8.4, and 4.3GB. The company says that the U8 will provide real value to the sub-$700 PC market. The drive boasts GMR heads, G-Force protection and the Ultra ATA/66 interface. Seagate says that the drive has been engineered to perform well in the consumer market too, in the form of set top boxes and other information appliances. The U series has some heavy hitting fans -- Compaq and Acer are both customers. ®