Hitachi rolls out new HDDs for laptops

05 Sep 09 22:59 by Randomus in category Hard Disk Drives, Uncategorized

Print this page

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.

TS_7K500_angle_HR_270x204

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.

5 Comments on Hitachi rolls out new HDDs for laptops

tmc8080: Posts: 980; Posted on: 09 Sep 09 13:10

Capacity wise, this is nothing new.. I thought I saw 750gb 2.5" hard drives on the market.. the only good thing about this drive is the 7200rpm speed can give about 20% performance boost in read/write operations-- further making SSD drives struggle for market share with their insane pricing.

Hemispasm: Posts: 5502; Posted on: 09 Sep 09 13:27

Even a 7200rpm 2.5'' HDD is by no means any match for a good SSD; that being said I also agree that their pricing is insane and will not buy one till they drop to reasonable prices.

Btw the 7200rpm HDD will also account for more heat+noise for the laptop and for most of us this is more important than a few Mb more in transfer rates, at least for our laptops.

CCRomeo: Posts: 5036; Posted on: 09 Sep 09 13:57

The trend for most laptops/netbooks is not for top performance but long battery life, yet they still need storage file space. I could live with a say a 120Gb SSD if I had a external HDD.

I use a desktop 2Tb + 500Gb external
1 laptop 500Gb + 320Gb both internal
1 laptop 320Gb + 500Gb external
1 netbook 320Gb + 160Gb external

some new HDD are 1.8" and ~ 120Gb

RCM: Posts: 727; Posted on: 10 Sep 09 03:22

I wonder if these will be any better then the famous deathstar (deskstar) I had a hitachi drive in a laptop once, even when it was new, it was ALWAYS making an annoying clicking sound! another one did the same thing!

Hemispasm: Posts: 5502; Posted on: 10 Sep 09 10:46

AFAIK they have grown past such problems for quite a while, the new Hitachi HDDs are actually quite good

Hitachi rolls out new HDDs for laptops

5 Comments on Hitachi rolls out new HDDs for laptops

Hitachi rolls out new HDDs for laptops

Most popular headlines

Windows Blue to allow boot to desktop and brings start menu back? (3)

Jobs in US entertainment industry on all-time high - piracy?! (8)

The Piratebay domain moves to Greenland - circumvents blockade (3)

Intel 9 series chipset has native SATA Express (SATA over PCIe) support (2)

Active Commenters