State-of-the-Art Design Features Provide a Valuable Storage Solution for High-Capacity Mobile PCs, External Storage and Consumer Electronics Products

TOKYO--Toshiba Corporation, the pioneer in small form factor hard disk drives (HDDs), today announced a new half-terabit HDD, the flagship model in a series of 5,400 RPM Serial-ATA (SATA) 3.0 Gb/s 2.5-inch HDDs offering enhanced features that will improve the user experience in mobile applications and other digital devices.

Available in capacities from 500GB to 120GB, the new series of quiet and durable drives is targeted for integration into notebook PCs, sub-notebooks, small form factor and energy star PCs, game consoles, external storage devices and consumer electronics products.

This new family raises the bar in acoustic performance for mainstream high-capacity HDDs. Advanced servo techniques combined with mechanical design changes minimize noise emanating from the drives, making them very quiet during operation . A further plus is that power consumption during data seek and read/write operation has been reduced by 0.5W, compared to Toshiba’s current top-of-the-line 400GB HDD, to 1.7W and 1.4W, respectively.

In addition, optimization of mechanics and servo design boosts the durability of the series, to realize operating shock tolerances matching the highest levels available on the market today(1) .To further protect user data against potentially hazardous external events, free-fall sensor (FFS) options are available in all models in the new series .

Toshiba’s new drive series will begin shipping in production volumes to OEMs and distributors in December 2008 and will be exhibited at CES 2009 in January.

Environmentally conscious products

(1) Halogen Free Product

The new drives achieve chlorine and bromine concentrations below 900ppm for each substance, and an overall total below 1,500ppm, achieving the standard required for recognition as Toshiba environmentally conscious products (ECP).

(2) Improved energy consumption efficiency.

Compared to the 400GB model (MK4058GSX), the new 500GB HDD model (MK5055GSX) improves energy consumption efficiency(2) , as defined under the Japanese legal standard, to 0.0012W/GB, a 20% improvement.

(3) Lower CO2 emissions during the product lifecycle

During their lifecycle, the new drives will release approximately 95g a year(3) less CO2 than their benchmark models.

(4) RoHS compatible

The new drives comply with the European Union’s RoHS directive(4) for eliminating use of six hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment.

(5) The new series meets standards for certification as a standout Toshiba ECP

Toshiba is promoting an “Excellent ECP” program to stimulate creation of high value products offering exceptional environmental friendliness. For more information, visit http://www.toshiba.co.jp/env/en/products/index.htm

One Gigabyte (1 GB) means 109 = 1,000,000,000 bytes using powers of 10. A computer operating system, however, reports storage capacity using powers of 2 for the definition of 1 GB = 230 = 1,073,741,824 bytes, and therefore shows less storage capacity. Available storage capacity will also be less if the computer includes one or more pre-installed operating systems, pre-installed software applications or media content. Actual formatted capacity may vary.

(1) Source: Toshiba.
(2) Energy consumption efficiency is calculated based on power consumption divided by formatted capacity, as defined by Japanese law.
(3) Comparison based on MK6015MAP (Year 2000 model). Based on Toshiba’s evaluation method of LCA (Life Cycle Assessment).
(4) The RoHS Directive,which came into effect in July 2006, is a European Union directive that eliminates the use of six hazardous substances in electronic equipment.