History (1995): Toshiba Takes Lead in 2.5-Inch HDD With 1.35GB

Toshiba America Information Systems (Irvine, CA) has knocked IBM out of the ≠1 position with 1.35GB, a new world capacity for 2.5-inch drives.

Only 2 months ago, Big Blue was on top with 1.2GB in this form factor.

The new Japanese MK-2720F is 19mm thick and has otherwise classic performances: 13ms average seek time, rotation speed 4,200rpm, 128KB buffer and 100g operating shock resistance. The drive averages 1.4 watts of power and features a 5s spin-up time to optimize battery life.

It exists in Fast ATA or SCSl-2 versions and will be available in the fourth quarter of 1995 for $1,500 in sample quantities.

Toshiba also revealed another 2.5-inch unit 12.7mm thick, with 815MB on 3 platters, compared with IBM’s version of equal volume. At the performance level, this MK-1926F closely resembles its big brother. It sells for $1,000 under the same conditions.

Specs of MK-2720F Series

This article is an abstract of news published on the former paper version of Computer Data Storage Newsletter on issue 87, published on April 1995.