Samsung Ships 1TB Spinpoint MT2 2.5" Hard Drive

When it comes to hard drives, "biggest" is never "big enough." Samsung knows all about this problem, and they're pushing the limits of 2.5" storage with their first terabyte-sized Spinpoint MT2. This drive, which packs 1TB of capacity into a 2.5" form factor meant for gaming/multi-media notebooks, is now shipping.

The company also admits that the drive may first land in portable HDD enclosures before actual laptops, mostly because of the higher-than-average 12.5mm height. The vast majority of laptops today accept a 9.5mm hard drive, so the extra 3mm makes this drive too large for most machines. It spins at just 5400RPM, but there's a SilentSeek and NoiseGuard feature meant to keep noise to a minimum.

The new MT2 drive delivers about 20% increased read/write performance and 4% lower power consumption compared with competitive drives, and it features shock resistance levels of 400G (2ms) in operation mode and 800G (1ms) when the power is off. The unit has 8MB buffer memory and is also available in a 750GB version, but no pricing details are mentioned. We're guessing it'll be rather pricey, though.

 Samsung Launches Its First Terabyte Spinpoint MT2 2.5" Mobile Hard Drive

SEOUL, South Korea--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., a world leader in digital consumer electronics and information technology, today announced that it has started shipping its new Spinpoint MT2 1 terabyte (TB) 2.5” internal mobile hard disk drive. It is ideally suited for use in portable storage solutions, such as the newly released Samsung S2 Portable 1TB USB Drives. Other applications include digital TVs, home media systems and set-top boxes, where quiet and cool operations are important.

    “The new Spinpoint MT2 drive offers the largest capacity in what has previously been offered as an option for portable digital devices”

Employing industry-leading 333GB per-platter technology, the new Spinpoint MT2 drive offers up to an enormous 1TB for personal digital collections such as photos, music, video and work files. Running at 5400rpm speed, the MT2 has a 12.5mm form factor and utilizes Samsung’s proprietary SilentSeek™ and NoiseGuard™ technologies to minimize noise levels during drive operation.

“The new Spinpoint MT2 drive offers the largest capacity in what has previously been offered as an option for portable digital devices,” said I.C. Park vice president, storage marketing, Samsung Electronics. “As the total storage solution provider, Samsung is committed to offering products that features exceptional performance and value across a wide range of computing and consumer electronics markets.”

The performance and reliability features of the Spinpoint MT2 have been enhanced with an optimized design and improved suspension for multidisc. The new MT2 drive delivers about 20% increased read/write performance and 4% lower power consumption compared with competitive drives, and it features shock resistance levels of 400G (2ms) in operation mode and 800G (1ms) when the power is off. Equipped with Samsung’s exclusive dynamic balancing technology, the drive’s overall stability and reliability is optimized as a high-performing solution.

The halogen-free drive complies with the European Union’s Directive on the Restriction of the use of certain Hazardous Substances in electrical and electronic equipment (RoHS).

The Spinpoint MT2 features 5400rpm speed rotation, SATA 3.0 Gbps interface and Native Command Queuing functions for advanced performance.

The Spinpoint MT2 drive has an 8MB buffer memory and is available in 750GB and 1TB capacity. Initial shipments are available now.