Toshiba 200GB 2.5 inch drive sets storage density record

Stan Beer
Monday, 05 June 2006 21:43

Japanese electronics giant Toshiba Corporation claims to have set a storage density record with a new 2.5-inch hard disk drive (HDD) which can store 200GB using the recently developed perpendicular magnetic recording technology.

Hard drive manufacturer Seagate caused a stir in April when it announced new perpendicular drive technology that enabled the production and release of a  750GB hard drive. The new technology enables bits of data to be stored in a perpendicular format rather than longitudinally and, thus enables the magnetic disc to store significantly more data in the same space. Hitachi followed up with the release of its own perpendicular drives in May.

However, Toshiba is claiming to have set a storage density record with its 2.5 inch drive system containing only two platters able to store 178.8 gigabits per square inch. Toshiba plans to start mass production of the drive in August 2006.

"We are delighted to announce the addition of this new 2.5-inch HDD to our line-up of perpendicular magnetic recording HDDs," said Kazuyoshi Yamamori, Vice president of Storage Device Division at Toshiba Corporation's Digital Media Network Company. "Larger data capacity in a small form factor HDD is essential for continued advances in the notebook PC market and in personal audio and video applications. As a global leader in small form factor HDD, we will continue to take technology advances to further generations and provide our customers with breakthroughs in capacity and performance."

Toshiba believes that its new storage technology will enable to keep up with the market's growing demand for portable audio-visual applications and smaller, thinner notebooks.