Hitachi officially announced the Travelstar 7K500 HDD, a new line of 2.5-inch SATA 2 HDDs designed specifically for high-performance laptops.
The new HDD consumes 0.69 watts idle power and just 1.8 watts when conducting read/write operations, allowing laptop owners to receive a boost in battery power. The company also says its 7K500 HDD has 56% more storage capacity and increased performance by 16%.
Similar to other Hitachi HDDs, the Travelstar 7K500 also includes the Bulk Data Encryption (BDE) option that encrypts all data stored on the HDD -- when information is accessed, the HDD automatically decrypts the data.
The HDD is available in 120GB, 160GB, 250GB, and 500GB storage capacities.
"Portable PC shipment growth continues to be one of the most significant market drivers underpinning 2.5-inch disk drive demand, and is a major reason why IDC expects the 2.5-inch mobile HDD market will grow at a 16.8 percent 2008-2013 compound annual growth rate," IDC HDD research director John Ryndning noted in a statement. "Hitachi's new 500GB mobile 2.5-inch HDD with a 7,200 rpm spin-speed provides PC OEMs an opportunity to differentiate PCs with both capacity and performance."
It was less than 30 days ago when Hitachi also announced a 2TB HDD for desktops, with similar product launches expected in the future.
As the storage capacities and transfer speeds of HDDs continue to impress users, it's nice to see Hitachi and others launch products for laptops.
