Half-Terabyte 2.5-inch HDD from Toshiba

Toshiba has announced a new series of energy efficient 2.5-inch hard disk drives targeted for integration into notebook PCs, sub-notebooks, small form factor and energy star PCs, game consoles, external storage devices and consumer electronics products.

Advanced servo techniques combined with mechanical design changes minimize noise emanating from the drives while optimization of mechanics and servo design boosts the durability of the series with free-fall sensor (FFS) options available in all models in the new series. 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.

The series, which includes the flagship 5,400 RPM Serial-ATA (SATA) 3.0 Gb/s 2.5-inch HDD, will be available in capacities from 120GB to 500GB when it begins shipping in production volumes to OEMs and distributors in December 2008.