Toshiba Corporation, the industry pioneer in small form factor hard disk drives (HDDs), has introduced a new line up of 1.8-inch HDDs with a maximum capacity of 320GB, the highest yet announced by the industry, targeted at thin and light mobile PCs and portable external hard disk drives. The new series delivers three models in 160GB, 250GB and 320GB capacities, and will start mass production from December.

Improvement of the MK3233GSG family’s perpendicular magnetic recording head and the disk’s magnetic layer secure an areal density of 801Mbit/mm2 (516Gbpsi), the industry’s highest for 1.8-inch HDDs. The new drives position Toshiba to provide manufacturers of PCs and peripheral equipment with thin and light solutions offering the industry’s largest storage density in a 1.8-inch form factor. They also deliver highly efficient power consumption, high-level durability and quiet seek operation.

Equipped with a serial ATA interface, 5,400 RPM rotational speed and a large capacity 16MB buffer memory, Toshiba’s MK3233GSG HDDs are ideal for notebook PC applications that require high storage capacity and high speed processing. The areal density improvement allows MK3233GSG to boost internal data transfer rates by 15% from the MK2529GSG, the company’s earlier 250GB 1.8-inch HDD.

The new 250 and 320GB drives, the MK 2533GSG and MK3233GSG, cut acoustic noise during seek to 19dB, a 4dB decrease from the MK2529GSG, the top-end drive in Toshiba’s previous generation of 5,400RPM 1.8-inch HDD.

Leveraging Toshiba’s long history of expertise in miniaturization and the 1.8-inch HDD form factor, the MK3233GSG family delivers significant environmentally friendly performance improvements from the MK2529GSG generation of 1.8-inch drives, including a 19% improvement in energy consumption efficiency. The MK3233GSG family is also compliant with the European Union’s RoHS directive, halogen-free[5] and antimony free[6].

Key Features

1. Areal density of 801 Mbit/mm2 (516Gbpsi) realizes the industry’s largest[1] capacity 1.8-inch HDD (MK3233GSG)

MK3233GSG uses Toshiba technology to improve the perpendicular magnetic recording technology head and disk and realize the industry’s highest areal density of 801 Mbit/mm2 (516 Gbpsi) and a capacity of 320GB, the industry’s largest for a 1.8-inch HDD.

2. Improved high speed processing (all models)

MK3233GSG applies serial ATA interface which supports a 3.0Gbps data transfer rate, large capacity 16MB buffer memory and realize improved data processing compared to the 250GB MK2529GSG, the highest capacity model in Toshiba’s previous series of 1.8-inch HDD. By improved linear recording density, internal data transfer rate is improved by 15%.

3. Improved seek noise (all models)

Toshiba’s original advanced acoustic management technology limits acoustic noise during seek to 19dB in the MK3233GSG and MK2533GSG, a 4dB decreased against the previous MK2529GSG model. The MK1633GSG realizes 17dB, a 5dB decrease from the MK1229GSG.

4. Higher durability compared to 2.5-inch HDD

1.8-inch HDD are smaller, lighter, shock and vibration resistant than current 2.5-inch HDD mainly used in notebook PCs. 1.8-inch HDD will meet demand for thin and light mobile PCs and portable HDDs.

5. Environmentally Conscious products