Hitachi Delivers Performance Without Sacrifice in New 7,200 RPM Travelstar Hard Drive

New 320GB Notebook Hard Drive Combines High Capacity and Superior Performance With Power Efficiency and Low Acoustics

SAN JOSE, Calif.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Continuing its longstanding tradition of delivering superior performance with no sacrifices required, Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (Hitachi GST) today began shipment of its fourth-generation 7,200 RPM mobile hard drive, the Travelstar™ 7K320. The new drive delivers 60 percent higher capacity than its predecessor, while improving application performance by 12 percent and power consumption by 22 percent. The drive's quiet acoustics improve the experience of watching movies or listening to music on a notebook PC. The 2.5-inch drive is offered with optional Bulk Data Encryption for users wanting increased data security. Hitachi also plans to ship enhanced-availability (EA) models, designed to provide high-capacity storage for low-duty-cycle, 24x7 applications.

The performance attributes of the Travelstar 7K320 allow consumers to opt for a full-featured notebook or compact desktop model, while still achieving all the capacity and performance typically associated with a more traditional desktop PC. The new drives bring forth a number of essential features that are in strong demand from manufacturers of notebooks, compact desktops, gaming systems, blade servers and video surveillance systems. Some of these attributes include best-in-class operating shock protection of 400Gs, 5,400 RPM-equivalent power consumption and quiet acoustics.

"As operating systems have grown more complex, users have struggled with an overall decrease in system performance," said Larry Swezey, director, Consumer and Commercial HDD, Hitachi Global Storage Technologies. "Solid state drives (SSD) have yet to deliver an overall increase in speed, and certainly not at an affordable price. The 7,200 RPM speed of the Travelstar 7K320 provides an improved overall experience, at the capacities users want and at a far lower cost than SSD."

Gartner is predicting worldwide mobile PC shipments will surpass global desk-based PC shipments in the second half of 20091. This evolution has been driven by the ever improving performance-for-price of mobile PCs, relative to desktop PCs. Hitachi believes the greater availability of 7,200 RPM hard drives will help accelerate this trend, as more users realize the benefits of combining desktop-class performance with the convenience and portability of a notebook.

Advanced Features

The Travelstar 7K320 includes many features that translate into very tangible benefits for users, including:

* 320GB capacity for storing approximately 80 hours of high definition video, 320 hours of standard video, 100 movies, 80,000 4-minute MP3s or 160 games2
* The 7,200 RPM provides any operating system with a noticeable advantage in boot times and application performance. A SATA 3Gb/s interface and fast media transfer rates provide faster file copying and document retrieval, better graphics and improved game performance
* Best-in-class operating shock protection of 400Gs to minimize the effects of rough handling and vibration
* Power utilization on par with Hitachi's 5,400 RPM mobile drives, so that users can enjoy more "unplugged" notebook computing time
* The drive's quiet acoustics provide a richer audio listening experience for music, movies and games

Protect Your Data

The Travelstar 7K320 features optional Bulk Data Encryption (BDE), a capability that Hitachi has offered in its mobile hard drives since the start of 2007. Previously, data on a hard drive could be protected either through software-based encryption or a system-level password. Hard drive level encryption provides improved performance and a higher level of security than any of the previously available methods.

When employing bulk data encryption, data is scrambled using a key as it is being written to the disk and then descrambled with the key as it is retrieved. Thus, data encryption at the hard-drive level represents a more sophisticated approach of securing users' data and is generally considered to be virtually impenetrable. Another benefit is that it speeds and simplifies the drive re-deployment process. By deleting the encryption key, the data on the drive is rendered unreadable, thereby eliminating the need for time-consuming data-overwrite.

BDE models ship exclusively with a SATA 1.5Gb/s interface.

Technical Specifications:

Travelstar 7K320
320/250/160/120/80GB
9.5mm in height
7,200 RPM
252 billion bits per square inch maximum areal density
2/2/1/1/1 glass disks
4/4/2/2/1 TMR recording head(s)
1000G/1ms non-operating shock
400G/2ms operating shock
4.2ms average latency
12ms average read time
1.0W active idle
0.8W low-power idle
Serial ATA 3Gb/s, 1.5Gb/s encrypted
115/110 grams in weight
2.5Bels typical idle acoustics
2.8Bels typical operational acoustics

Availability

The Travelstar 7K320 is now shipping to customers worldwide. The enhanced-availability version of the drive is expected to ship in the third quarter of 2008.

About Hitachi Global Storage Technologies

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies develops advanced hard disk drives to store and preserve the world's valued data. Founded by the pioneers of hard drives, Hitachi GST enables users to fully engage in the digital lifestyle by providing high-value, high-capacity storage in formats suitable for the office, in the home or on the road. With vertically integrated research, design and manufacturing capabilities, Hitachi GST delivers leadership technology and quality to its global customer base.

With approximately 33,000 employees worldwide, Hitachi GST offers a comprehensive range of hard drive products for desktop computers, high-performance storage systems and servers, notebooks and consumer devices. For more information, please visit the company's website at www.hitachigst.com.

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies trademarks are authorized for use in countries and jurisdictions in which Hitachi Global Storage Technologies has the right to use, market and advertise the brands. The Travelstar trademark is authorized for use in the Americas, EMEA, and in the Asia-Pacific region in the following countries: Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan.

About Hitachi, Ltd.

Hitachi, Ltd., (NYSE:HIT) (TOKYO:6501), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is a leading global electronics company with approximately 384,000 employees worldwide. Fiscal 2006 (ended March 31, 2007) consolidated revenues totaled 10,247 billion yen ($86.8 billion). The company offers a wide range of systems, products and services in market sectors including information systems, electronic devices, power and industrial systems, consumer products, materials and financial services. For more information on Hitachi, please visit the company's website at http://www.hitachi.com.

1 Garter Global PC Forecast and Shipments Quarterly Statistics, George Shiffler, March 13, 2008

One GB is equal to one billion bytes and one TB is equal to 1,000 GB when referring to hard drive capacity. Accessible capacity may be less.

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies' trademarks are authorized for use in countries and jurisdictions in which Hitachi Global Storage Technologies has the right to use, market and advertise the brands. The Travelstar trademark is authorized for use in the Americas, EMEA, and the following Asia-Pacific countries and jurisdictions: Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea and Taiwan. Hitachi Global Storage Technologies shall not be liable to third parties for unauthorized use of its trademarks.

2 Actual storage may vary depending on the compression rate applied. Capacities may not be combined.

I don't think that there is quite enough cool looking circuitry in a portable HDD to warrant a clear case, but the design works. At 3.5" (W) x 5.5" (D) x 1" (H) and at 2.5 lbs it is as light as can be expected. The kicker for the Mercury is the price; it is $359.99, which means that you are going to want to go on the road with your equipment a lot in order to justify the expense. If you work from home a 3.5" will give you a lot more bang for your buck. [OWC via Slippery Brick]

This is good news for near-future UMPCs and refreshes of subnotebooks like the MacBook Air. Also, though Toshiba stresses the PC application, these more rugged and less power-hungry drives may even be the key to reducing lag in portable media players (ahem, iPod classic) too.

TOSHIBA introduces high-performance 5,400 RPM 1.8-inch HDDs with micro-sata connector

New 1.8-inch Products Feature High Capacity at 120GB and 80GB and

Enhanced Performance for Ultra-Portable PC Solutions

IRVINE, Feb. 25, 2008 - Toshiba Storage Device Division (SDD), the industry pioneer in small form factor hard disk drives (HDDs), today added a line of high-performance 5,400 RPM Serial ATA (SATA) 1.8-inch HDDs to its product offerings for mobile PCs. Available in 120GB1 and 80GB capacities, these new HDDs integrate design elements from Toshiba's flagship 2.5-inch line into its proven 1.8-inch platform to offer enhanced performance for ultra-thin and light PC applications.

These new 1.8-inch HDDs leverage the interface architecture from Toshiba's 2.5-inch SATA HDDs, which carry the industry certification for SATA compliance, providing seamless compatibility across Toshiba's full line of SATA HDDs. The combination of 5,400 RPM spin speeds with SATA features expands Toshiba's market-leading 1.8-inch product lineup into the high-performance segment of the growing ultra-portable computing market.

Toshiba's 120GB MK1216GSG and 80GB MK8016GSG 1.8-inch HDDs are designed to the latest SATA 2.6 specification and incorporate the new industry-standard micro-SATA connector. Features include native command queuing, staggered spin-up and hot-plug capability. These ultra-slim storage solutions deliver both high performance and power efficiency, providing computing capabilities traditionally found in desktop and notebook PCs - all in a lightweight design at 62 grams. Toshiba's 1.8-inch HDDs feature an 8MB cache to optimize read and write performance and fully utilize the 489 Mbits/sec data transfer rate for a powerful computing experience in thin and light mobile computers.

In addition to spurring miniaturization and mobility for PC devices, 1.8-inch HDDs deliver improved ruggedness at capacity levels popular in larger form factors. Toshiba's introduction of high-capacity 5,400 RPM 1.8-inch HDDs reflect the market's voracious appetite for storage as broadband Internet and powerful media-rich applications bring new capabilities to mobile PCs, enabling consumers to take advantage of digital content on the go. The new 1.8-inch HDDs also provide improved shock tolerance over best-in-class 2.5-inch HDDs by more than 100Gs during operation and several hundred Gs in non-operating mode, making them ideal for highly mobile PC users.

"The portable computing market is looking for an uncompromised computing experience in small and light-weight storage solutions," said Maciek Brzeski, vice president of marketing at Toshiba Storage Device Division. "With enhanced features for the mobile environment, these new 1.8-inch HDDs enable mobile system manufacturers to reap the benefits of high-capacity magnetic storage, along with better power efficiency and ruggedness."

Delivering Industry-leading 1.8-inch HDDs

With over 60 million 1.8-inch HDDs shipped since 2000, Toshiba has consistently held the number one position in the 1.8-inch HDD segment according to IDC2. Toshiba's product leadership in the 1.8-inch market has helped fuel the digital product revolution in both PC and CE devices, with capacity points traditionally seen in mobile 2.5-inch and desktop HDDs, while delivering better power efficiency, improved ruggedness and quieter acoustics during system operation.

Toshiba will showcase its new 1.8-inch HDDs at the Intel Mobility Summit in Shanghai, China, February 26 - 29, 2008. Toshiba's new 1.8-inch HDDs will begin shipping to mobile PC manufacturers and distribution partners in April 2008. Interested developers and design engineers can visit www.toshibastorage.com for more information on Toshiba's line of industry-leading 1.8-inch HDDs.

The design uses a SATA interface and is only 4 mm thick. Micron claims the advantages of such a design are the small size and the ability to line up multiple drives next to each other. In addition, this design requires no wires or attaching the motherboard with screws, reducing the risk of the SSD becoming disconnnected or loose inside a computer. While this product is nowhere near ready for market, Micron says they would need to work with an OEM or someone who can offer a compatible computer solution. [Micron]

There are two versions, both the latter of which meets DoD HDD sanitation specfications: The $99 Standard hooks up to IDE drives and performs a single pass, while the $150 pro model jacks into SATA drives and sports a multi-pass mode for the super paranoid. [Wiebetech via Crave]

TiVo Delivers Anticipated Upgrades and Updates for Series 3 and TiVo HD

TiVo Inc. (NASDAQ: TIVO), the creator of and leader in television services for digital video recorders (DVRs), today announced the new availability of several exciting feature upgrades and product support for TiVo Series 3 and TiVo HD customers. The news includes the availability of external storage (E-SATA) from Western Digital, the introduction of Multi-Room Viewing and TiVoToGo availability and the new feature of progressive downloads - all for Series 3 and TIVo HD subscribers. Please see below for more information on the news.

E-SATA
The My DVR Expander external hard drive is capable of storing up to 600 hours of standard-definition (SD) or up to 65 hours of high-definition (HD) television programming based on 500 GB of hard drive storage.
This is current the only TiVo Verified external storage device.
The My DVR Expander is compatible with both TiVo HD and TiVo Series3 DVRs.
WD's My DVR Expander external hard drive is available now in the United States from Best Buy retail stores and by ordering online from TiVo.com/store.
MSRP for the My DVR Expander drive with 500 GB is $199.99 USD.

Multi Room Viewing (MRV)
MRV allows you to transfer programming between TiVo DVRs.
It now includes support for Series3 and TiVo HD DVRs, meaning you can share shows between Series2, Series3, and TiVo HD boxes.
Only SD recordings may be sent from a Series3/TiVo HD to a Series2.

TiVoToGo
TiVo HD and Series 3 users can now enjoy TiVoToGo functionality.
TiVoToGo transfers are available to all networked TiVo DVRs. This service enhancement allows users to transfer programs from a TiVo box to a desktop or laptop PC.
Using TiVo Desktop software for Windows or Roxio Toast 8 or Popcorn 3 for Mac OS, TiVo subscribers can now transfer recordings from their Series 3 and TiVo HD boxes for playback, DVD burning, or converting to portable device formats on personal computers.

Progressive Downloads
The progressive download feature gives TiVo subscribers the ability to watch TiVoCast content while it is still downloading, including Amazon UnBox on TiVo.
When a download begins, the TiVo box checks the speed of the download, and calculates whether you can begin playback. If the download speed is going faster than playback speed, it will let users start playback immediately.
If the download is slower, it will wait until users have enough of the program "buffered" on disk to be able to play it from start to finish without hitting the end of the buffer, and then let you start playback.
This service is available for TiVo HD and Series3 subscribers.

This one also lets you plug in two drives at the same time, just like the others, but doesn't include that one-touch backup software. It supports 1.8", 2.5", 3.5" and 5.5" IDE hard disks, and any 2.5" or 3.5" SATA or SATAII drive up to 750GB. Might be a great way to save a bit of money, getting low-cost bare SATA or IDE drives and plugging them in via USB, no enclosures required. Neat. [Brando]

As you can see from Maximum PC's benchmarking results, Mtron's SATA-based SSD is ridiculously speedy. Especially noteworthy is the PC Mark test, which simulates the kind of things you do on a daily basis. Virtually everything that requires loading, from booting up XP to launching PhotoShop, is significantly faster on the S2516. So why isn't every manufacturer rushing to stick these things in their latest machines?

There are two big (or perhaps small?) reasons, and they're both about the numbers: capacity and price. In terms of size, SSDs just can't compete with their traditional brethren. The tested drive was a paltry 16GB, and Mtron is currently offering a 64GB model as the top-o-the-line option with a 128GB on the schedule for 2008. Even at those small sizes, you'll have to drop a full grand for the 16GB and a soul-crushing $3,000 for the 64GB SATA drive. At almost $50/GB, SSDs aren't the wave of the future just yet, but we applaud MTron for their tremendous achievement. Toss us a reasonably-sized option that won't break the bank and we'll be the first in line. [Mtron's Solid State Drives via Maximum PC]

Will the PS3 recognize all that extra storage space (unlike the Xbox 360, which can only access 20GB per hard drive, despite the latest hacks), and does it make sense to go to all that trouble to install a larger hard drive in the first place? Maybe if you're dumping Blu-ray movies left and right, otherwise, right now, this looks to be more trouble than it's worth. – Nicholas Deleon

Product Page (in Japanese) [Kurouto Shikou via Akihabara News]

The portable Go drives, equipped with USB 2.0 ports, come in 80- and 120-GB paperback book-sized models (at $130 and $180), and shirt pocket-sized Go Small model ($150) that holds 12GB. The Go series drives all have the ability to store applications, allowing you to run them on any computer without having to install them to the local hard disk.

Finally, Seagate introduced the FreeAgent Desktop Data Movers — basic external hard drives ranging from 250 to 500 gigabytes ($130 to $260). – Sean Captain

Next, we want to see this technology incorporated into a 1.8-inch form factor, for a drive whose capacity will dwarf the recently-announced 1.8-inch Toshiba 100GB drive that will fit perfectly into an iPod. Bring it on. – Charlie White

Fujitsu Announces 300GB Laptop Hard Drive [CrunchGear]

Sure, we've seen hot-swappable devices before, but this is a good way to get the speed of SATA in a hot-swappable form factor for a low price. It's as easy as USB with no pesky rebooting required. – Charlie White

Product Page [Addonics Technologies]

Hitachi is making an effort to change that, and it's first out of the gate with a 160GB SATA drive aimed at notebooks, its Hitachi Travelstar 5K160. Sure, Seagate is shipping a 160GB 2.5-inch drive, but it's only available with a parallel ATA connector. That's not going to play ball with the swankiest of new notebooks from Apple, Dell and others which feature SATA connectors. Seagate said it would ship a 2.5" SATA perpendicular drive last month, but now Hitachi has beaten them to the punch. The Travelstar 5K160 160GB SATA drive is available now for $279. – Charlie White

Hitachi ships 160GB SATA notebook drive [APC] (Thanks, Adam!)

This adapter lets you either backup from PC to a bare drive or copy from one drive to another. It also has a dual mode that lets you backup a SATA and IDE drive at the same time. Pretty neat trick for $40. – Charlie White

USB 2.0 To SATA/IDE Adapter With One Touch Backup [Brando]

Another kit's coming down the pipe to allow you to back up your files from your Xbox 360 hard drive, say, before sending the unit in for repair. The kit comes with a Optical Disc Drive Adapter, Xeno SATA HD Connection, and SATA-SATA cable. This allows you to "Effortlessly transfer files from your 360 hard drive to your PC without opening up the case! "

Not sure what the price is going to be yet, as the site says "wholesale only" for now. But using this to back up saved games or paid content may be worth the price of admission. – Jason Chen

Xeno 360 connectivity kit [IC.bz via Xbox Scene]

The 1TB model costs $1199 and the 500GB costs $569. Each system comes with one spare drive. – John Biggs

Product Page [LaCie via MacMinute]

We like the DriveStation's auto power feature that turns on and off automatically with your computer, and its fanless design that keeps things quiet when the going gets tough. Plus, you can lock up your data with Buffalo Secure Lock Ware, encrypting everything in case somebody jacks the drive from you. And, at 1.77 x 6.41 x 7.86 inches, it'll fit into tight spaces. Available now.

Product page [via über gizmo]

We think it may be a little risky schlepping a bare drive around with you all the time without protection of any sort, but we've never been the kind to take chances with our data. Our precious, juicy data.

Brando SATA/IDE to USB 2.0 Conversion Cable Review [Bona Fide Reviews]

Seagate Barracuda 300GB [digg]

3Gbps SATA II HDD [Akihabara]