Toshiba Pushes 2.5" HDD Limit to 1TB

When it comes to hard drives, only a few things really matter. Size, durability, and size. Did we mention size? Toshiba understands the demands of the storage world, and the company has really stepped things up lately by pushing the areal density boundaries in order to deliver two of the highest-capacity 2.5" HDDs in existence today.

Two new additions of their 5,400RPM drives have been announced, with drives as high at 1TB now available. Best of all, the units have a 9.5mm height, which means that they'll fit nicely into standard notebook spaces. For notebooks with larger spaces, the 12.5mm MKxx59GSM series offers 750GB and 1TB of storage. These two new product offerings expand Toshiba's mobile HDD product line into the highest-capacity segment of the 2.5-inch HDD market and represent the company's first mobile HDD platforms developed with the combined engineering resources from the integration of Fujitsu's HDD business, which Toshiba acquired last fall. 

If you're curious as to how Toshiba has managed to reach such heights, the company has anticipated just that. Have a listen. To deliver these next-generation storage capacities, Toshiba has implemented Advanced Sector Format technology in both families.  This technology uses 4K byte-per-sector formatting and improved error-correcting code (ECC) functions, providing maximum data integrity and making efficient use of the storage surface area.  Toshiba is guiding efforts to ease industry transition to the advanced 4K byte-per-sector format, while continuing to provide a full line of mobile HDDs, including models that support the legacy 512 byte-per-sector configuration.

Toshiba's MKxx59GSM series and MK7559GSXP drives are scheduled to ship to PC manufacturers and distributors in the second and third quarters of 2010, respectively, but pricing has yet to be established.

The MK7559GSXP HDD features an areal density of 541.4G bit/in^2, making it ideal for mobile applications in which capacity is key, including notebook computers and portable storage products.  These HDDs also are well-suited for devices that value high capacity in a smaller footprint with improved acoustic performance and lower power operation compared to larger form factor HDDs.  Those applications include all-in-one desktops, televisions and set top boxes.  

At 12.5 millimeters-high, the MKxx59GSM series is geared to external add-on and removable storage, tape replacement and docking station applications, as well as addresses the escalating demand for capacity and portability in gaming notebooks, mobile workstations and other capacity-hungry applications.  The 1TB MK1059GSM model can store up to 285,000 digital photos, 263,000 digital music files or 820 digital movies.