Laptop Hard Drives


LG R400 – First Notebook With Hybrid Hard Drive

Correction: The LG Electronics representative told Laptoping.com authors that the reported R400 notebook does not feature hybrid hard drive. Also, the image published in this article is not the R400’s.

“LG considers to introduce a Hybrid HDD notebook but we haven’t decided when to release it. In conclusion, we do not provide the R400 with a Hybrid HDD,” the representative said.

LG R400LG R400, the first notebook with hybrid hard drive, will be available starting in the end of March, according to its product page at Canadian OnlineElectronics store.

LG R400 incorporates Samsung’s 2.5-inch MH80 hybrid HDD with 120GB of storage capacity. There are MH80 models with built-in 128MB or 256MB of flash memory used for data buffering. When compared to standard laptop hard drives which usually have 2MB, 4MB, or 8MB of buffer cache, hybrid HDDs offer benefits such as improved boot up times and faster application loading, as well as decreased power consumption and better reliability.

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Samsung Released Hybrid Hard Drive

SamsungSamsung Electronics has announced it has begun shipments of its hybrid hard drives. Samsung’s MH80 series hybrid HDDs are offered in 80GB, 120GB and 160GB capacities and with 128 or 256 megabytes of built-in flash memory, DigiTimes reports.

“Optimized to work in conjunction with Windows Vista capable notebook PCs, Samsung’s MH80 combines a hard disk drive with a cache comprised of Samsung’s OneNAND flash memory, and Microsoft’s ReadyDrive software, offering faster boot and resume times, increased battery life and greater reliability compared to traditional magnetic media technology,” the report says.

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Fujitsu Announced 160GB 2.5-Inch SATA2 HDD at 7,200rpm Speed

Fujitsu MHW2160BJFujitsu today announced the development of the new MHW2 BJ series of world’s first 7,200rpm 2.5-inch hard disk drives with a serial ATA 3.0 Gb/s – also known as SATA2 – interface. Featuring the MHW2160BJ with “the world’s highest storage capacity of 160GB for a 2.5-inch HDD with 7,200rpm rotational speed”, the new series is targeted primarily at high-performance notebook computers.

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Samsung Introduced 5mm Slim 60GB 1.8-Inch Hard Drive

SamsungSamsung has introduced the world’s first 1.8-inch hard drive with a 60GB capacity on one HDD platter. It is designed for use in ultraportable computers and other consumer electronics products.

“Until now, two disks (platters) were required to reach a 60GB storage capacity in a 1.8-inch drive, which increased the height and size of the drive. Samsung’s N-series utilizes perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) technology to offer 60GBs on a single disk. As a result, Samsung is the first to offer a 60GB solution in the slimmest available 5-millimeter form factor. This makes the drive ideal for use in small portable media centers and mobile music devices,” the company says.

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SanDisk Introduced 32GB 1.8-Inch SSD

SanDisk 32GB 1.8-Inch Solid State Drive (SSD)SanDisk introduced a 32GB 1.8-inch solid state drive (SSD), based on NAND flash memory, as a drop-in replacement for the standard mechanical hard disk drive in laptop computers.

A notebook PC equipped with SanDisk SSD can boot Microsoft Windows Vista Enterprise in as little as 35 seconds, compared with 55 seconds for a laptop with a standard HDD, the company claims. Also, it can achieve an average file access rate of 0.12 milliseconds compared to hard disk’s 19 milliseconds.

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Fujitsu Announced World’s First 300GB 2.5-Inch Hard Drive

FujitsuFujitsu today announced the world’s first 300GB notebook-use 2.5-inch hard drive, as a part of the new MHX2300BT HDD series. The Fujitsu MHX2300BT 300GB and 250GB hard drives will begin shipping in the first quarter of 2007.

“Engineered using perpendicular magnetic recording technology (PMR), which is essential to achieving the increased capacity per platter, the new small form factor HDDs will address the growing demand for higher capacity storage solutions. Additional benefits of the Fujitsu second generation PMR products include best-in-class low power consumption at 1.6W as well as high shock tolerance and near-silent operation”, the Fujitsu’s press release says.

Fujitsu MHX2300BT Specifications

Capacity: 250/300GB
Rotational Speed: 4200 RPM
Interface: SATA 2.5, ATA-8
Native Command Queuing
DIPM and HIPM Supported
Staggered Spin Up & Active LED Supported
Hot Plug
Best in Class Read / Write Power Consumption: 1.6W typ.
Idle Power Consumption: 0.5W typ.
Track to Track Seek Time: 1.5ms typ.
Host Transfer rate: 150MB/s max.
Operating Shock: 300G (2ms)

Press Release


Toshiba MK1011GAH – World’s First 100GB 1.8-Inch HDD

Toshiba MK1011GAHToshiba today announced MK1011GAH, a 100GB 1.8-inch hard drive. The company claims it is the largest capacity yet achieved in 1.8-inch HDD form factor.

Toshiba MK1011GAH, employs perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) technology and an improved error correction code, according to the report. Alongside capacity improvement, Toshiba has also improved power consumption to 0.003W/GB, the press release says.

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Samsung Introduced M80 SATA and M80 2.5-Inch Drives

Samsung M80 SATASamsung today announced new M80 SATA, and M80 2.5-inch laptop hard drive series. Both series utilize Perpendicular Magnetic Recording (PMR) technology, an optional free-fall sensors and up to 160GB of storage capacity.

The M80 SATA Series features the 80GB HM080HI, the 120GB HM120II and 160GB HM160JI hard drives. The M80 (PATA) Series includes the 80GB HM080HC, the 120GB HM120IC and the 160GB HM160JC HDDs. The announced hard drives feature an 8MB of onboard data cache and 5,400rpm spindle speed.

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Seagate Momentus 5400 FDE.2 Brings Full Disk Encryption

Seagate 2.5-inch Laptop Hard DriveSeagate announced its forthcoming Momentus 5400 FDE.2 laptop-use hard drive with built-in full-disk encryption. Seagate says the Momentus 5400 FDE.2 2.5-inch 5,400rpm drive will transparently perform all cryptographic operations and access control within the drive itself, and that users will need only a password to self-authenticate for full-drive access.

According to Scott Shimomura, senior product marketing manager at Seagate, this new hardware-based technology will provide companies and individuals with full protection directly on their hard drives without having to worry about additional security software or the need for extensive setup or configuration.

“It will simply be a matter of setting the password to the drive, and that’s basically it,” said Shimomura on Monday, at the Storage Networking World conference in Orlando, Florida.


OptiBay HDD Expands MacBook’s and PowerBoks G4′s Storage

MCE OptiBay Hard DriveMCE announced OptiBay Hard Drive for the MacBook Pro and PowerBook G4 laptops. The OptiBay Hard Drive, aimed to expand HDD storage capacity on Apple’s notebooks to up to 320GB, is made to work along with the original internal hard disc, replacing the internal optical drive.

The OptiBay hard drive was designed with the exact dimensions and same data connectivity (Parallel ATA) as a MacBook Pro’s and PowerBook’s optical drive. It is recognized by the system as a standard HDD and can be used with Apple’s Drive Setup utility.

MCE sells 5400rpm OptiBay hard drives with 80GB, 100GB, 120GB and 160GB capacities, for $249, $279, $329 and $399 respectively. A 100GB HDD spinning at 7200rpm is also available $379.

Depending on the speed of the drive (rpm), Apple’s laptop battery life with an OptiBay Hard Drive installed is affected by 10 to 15%.

Included with the MCE OptiBay Hard Drive solution is a portable, FireWire enclosure for the SuperDrive or Combo drive removed from laptop.

The MCE’s OptiBay Hard Drive is currently avaialable for the 17-inch MacBook Pro and PowerBook G4, while a version for the 15-inch MacBook Pro is coming on October 30.

Macworld News
MCE OptiBay Hard Drive for MacBook Pro and PowerBook G4


Fujitsu to Offer Solid-State Discs in Its Laptops

Fujitsu SSD LaptopFujitsu will soon offer notebook computers that uses flash memory-based solid state disc (SSD) in place of the standard hard disk drive. The company will offer a Samsung-made 16GB or 32GB flash memory disk as an option with new LifeBook B laptops due on sale in late October and new LifeBook Q series that will be available from early November, both in Japan.

Fujitsu said LifeBook Q will run an extra 30 minutes on solid state disc compared to hard-disk drive, while the SSD in LifeBook B will save 15 minutes of laptop’s battery life.

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TDK Announced 32GB Solid-State Disc

TDK SSD 32GBTDK announced a laptop hard drive replacement based on NAND Flash memory. The solid-state disc (SSD), with 32GB of storage space, connects to the host across a standard IDE connector, Reg Hardware reports.

The TDK’s SSD is about 80% of the size of a standard 2.5-inch laptop hard drive, and it consumes less power than a standard notebook HDD. The unit’s controller supports data transfer of up to 33.3MBps, the manufacturer published.

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WD1600BEVS – the 160GB 2.5-inch SATA HDD Announced

 WD1600BEVSWestern Digital (WD) this week announced the WD1600BEVS, the 160 GB WD Scorpio 2.5-inch Serial ATA (SATA) hard drive. The new laptop hard drive spins at 5400rpm, but, according to WD, it has low power consumption similar to 4200rpm notebook hard discs. The WD1600BEVS has 8MB of buffer size.

The new HDD employs perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) technology to achieve high capacity in the small form factor, while WD’s WhisperDrive technology with SoftSeek algorithms make this “the quietest 2.5-inch hard drive”. Also, the drive can perform a minimum of 600,000 load/unload cycles without contamination – “up to twice the performance of its competitors”, the company claims.

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Fujitsu MHW2160BH 160GB Laptop Hard Drive Announced

Fujitsu MHW2160BHFujitsu Computer Products of America today announced the MHW2160BH 2.5-inch laptop hard drive series featuring perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) technology. Fujitsu MHW2160BH provides 160GB of storage space with 5400rpm rotational speed and SATA interface.

“The new Fujitsu MHW2160BH hard drive is an ideal solution for ultra-fast, high-capacity notebook computers. Developed using PMR technology, the mobile SATA hard disk drives achieve 80GB of storage per platter, among the highest in the industry with this rotation speed”, Fujitsu’s press release says.

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Fujitsu MHW2080AT 2.5-Inch Hard Drive Announced

Fujitsu MHW2080ATFujitsu Computer Products of America today announced the new Fujitsu MHW2080AT series of 2.5 inch laptop hard drives featuring up to 80GB capacity in a single platter, 4200rpm rotational speed and PATA interface.

“The new Fujitsu MHW2080AT series of hard disk drives are geared toward non-IT applications whose products have a longer life cycle. Featuring up to 80GB capacity in a single platter as well as low power consumption, the cost-efficient mobile HDDs also demonstrate best-in-class reduced acoustic noise, resulting in exceptionally quiet performance”, Fujitsu’s press release says.

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