Toshiba debuts 500GB 2.5-inch notebook HDD

Toshiba Corporation, the pioneer in small form factor hard disk drives (HDDs), today announced a new half-terabit HDD, the flagship model in a series of 5,400 RPM Serial-ATA (SATA) 3.0 Gb/s 2.5-inch HDDs offering enhanced features that will improve the user experience in mobile applications and other digital devices.

Available in capacities from 500GB to 120GB, the new series of quiet and durable drives is targeted for integration into notebook PCs, sub-notebooks, small form factor and energy star PCs, game consoles, external storage devices and consumer electronics products.

This new family raises the bar in acoustic performance for mainstream high-capacity HDDs. Advanced servo techniques combined with mechanical design changes minimize noise emanating from the drives, making them very quiet during operation . A further plus is that power consumption during data seek and read/write operation has been reduced by 0.5W, compared to Toshiba’s current top-of-the-line 400GB HDD, to 1.7W and 1.4W, respectively.

In addition, optimization of mechanics and servo design boosts the durability of the series, to realize operating shock tolerances matching the highest levels available on the market today .To further protect user data against potentially hazardous external events, free-fall sensor (FFS) options are available in all models in the new series .

Toshiba’s new drive series will begin shipping in production volumes to OEMs and distributors in December 2008 and will be exhibited at CES 2009 in January.