Toshiba 500GB Notebook HDD at 7,200rpm

Toshiba Storage Device Division announced a new family of high-performance 7,200 RPM 2.5-inch HDDs, including a top-end half-terabyte capacity.

The four-model line-up delivers more than a 13 percent performance improvement in disk operations compared to Toshiba’s previous 7,200 RPM family, while decreasing environmental impact by eliminating or reducing the use of certain toxic and hazardous chemicals. The series also carries the SATA-certified 3Gb/s logo, which indicates successful completion of stringent interface compliance testing defined by the Serial ATA International Organization (SATA-IO), the industry body responsible for setting the standards for Serial ATA interface technologies.

Toshiba’s high-performance MKxx56GSY series offers capacities up to 500GB for commercial and consumer notebook PCs, gaming notebooks and all-in-one desktop PCs. In addition to enhanced performance, the MKxx56GSY models boost responsiveness of the overall system in areas such as application loading and general data processing. The family also offers extended battery life with lower power consumption in standby and sleep modes and faster start-up operation, thereby enhancing user experience.

With these performance features, the new line is well-suited for productivity-oriented, data-intensive and gaming applications, including general computing, graphic and image rendering, and scientific computing, while the power economies make it a fit for all-in-one and EnergyStar PCs.

The series also features best-in-class areal density of 395 Gb/in. At 500GB, the top-capacity HDD can store up to either 142,000 digital photos, 131,000 digital music files, 222 hours of DVD-quality video or 58 hours of high-definition video.

As notebook shipments exceeded desktop shipments for the first time in the third quarter of 2008, according to industry analyst firm IDC, PC manufacturers are looking for 2.5-inch HDDs to provide storage capacities and performance levels that rival larger form factor drives for a similar user experience.

"This new family delivers faster overall system performance, which boosts user productivity — a key differentiator that PC manufacturers can provide to commercial and consumer notebook users," said Maciek Brzeski, vice president of marketing at Toshiba Storage Device Division. "As a result, we expect that 7,200 RPM HDDs will grow to more than 25 percent of 2.5-inch HDD shipments within two years. In addition to the half-terabyte capacity, decreased environmental impact and low power consumption are also benefits, demonstrating Toshiba’s continued leadership in delivering the right solutions to meet emerging market needs."

Environmentally Conscious HDDs
The environmental enhancements in the MKxx56GSY line are part of Toshiba’s ongoing commitment to transitioning its HDD products to environmentally sounder solutions by the end of 2009. Since September 2008, new HDDs manufactured by Toshiba have decreased or eliminated the use of hazardous or controversial chemical substances, such as antimony trioxide, BFR (brominated flame retardant), PVC (polyvinyl chloride), red phosphorous as well as chlorine and bromine. Toshiba also curtailed usage of all chemicals listed under the European RoHS(5) directive, achieving RoHS compliance across its full product line before mandatory restrictions came into effect.

SATA-Certified Logo
The SATA-certified logo is a program designed by the SATA-IO consortium to easily identify products that adhere to the Serial ATA standard and provide seamless integration across other SATA-compliant components. Products carrying the SATA-certified logo have passed extensive testing for compliance to the SATA specification. The 250GB-per-platter, 7200 RPM, MKxx56GSY series successfully completed the SATA testing and is certified at both the 3Gb/s and 1.5Gb/s interface transfer rates. The MKxx56GSY will be displayed in the SATA-certified section of the SATA-IO booth at the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco September 22-24.

"Compliance with the SATA interface specification and other industry standards is of key importance to Toshiba storage products, as standards establish the foundation on which mainstream solutions can be built," Brzeski said. "Standards reduce the risk of integration for our customers and provide the best criteria for interoperability available for the products we design and market."

Information and Availability
Toshiba’s new 7,200 RPM 2.5-inch HDD series began shipment to PC manufacturers in limited quantities in the third quarter and is scheduled to enter volume production in the fourth quarter of 2009.

                                       
Product Specifications