Toshiba today launched three new 1.8-inch hard disk drives designed for mobile products. These HDDs are quieter, power-efficient devices with increased storage capacities.
The MKxx33GSG series, with HDD speeds up to 5,400 rpm, supports storage capacities of 160GB, 250GB, and 320GB. Each HDD supports a 16MB buffer, and runs using the SATA interface, a Toshiba press release indicates.
The second series of HDDs announced was the 4,200-RPM 120GB HDD, which also has been designed to consume less power than competing HDDs. The single platter device is a tad bit slimmer and more durable than similar HDDs available on the market, utilizing an 8MB cache.
Toshiba promotes its HDDs as more durable than traditional storage products used in mobile products today. The 1.8-inch drives are reportedly able to withstand up to 1,500 Gs of shock and 500 Gs of operational shock in real-time testing.
The drives will be used in tablet devices, netbooks and other portable devices. Although some consumers prefer solid-state drives (SSDs), which offer faster performance, the cost of SSD technology still remains high.
As the price of HDDs continues to slide, manufacturers have been forced to customize their storage offerings to gain momentum. Toshiba hopes its slimmer, more durable, more power-efficient devices will give it a step up in an industry that is continually difficult to work in.
An exact release date remains unknown, but Toshiba will reportedly begin to mass produce the HDDs next month. Pricing details also haven't yet been disclosed.
