Fujitsu joins 0.5T/2.5in brigade

Stephen Withers
Tuesday, 26 February 2008 06:07

Business IT - Technology

Fujitsu is set to join Hitachi and Samsung as a supplier of 500G 2.5in hard drives.

The MHZ2 BT series is set to ship in May, and the company expects to sell 200 million units by the end of its fiscal year.

Requiring just 1.8 Watts in normal operation, the 4200 rpm drive is part of the company's 'green' push and is aimed at the digital video recorder and external hard drive markets. However, the spin-up draw of 4.5 Watts means an external drive could not be powered by a single USB port that only delivers the minimum 2.5 Watts required by the USB specification.

Since the MHZ2 BT is 12.5mm high, it will not fit in devices or cases designed for the more commonly used 9.5mm mechanisms. The same applies to Hitachi's Travelstar 5K500, but Samsung's Spinpoint M6 manages to squeeze the three platters into the 9.5mm profile.

Fujitsu's drive will also be available in a 400G version. The company's range of drives intended for use in notebook computers covers capacities from 40G to 320G.