Hard Disk Drives offer capacities up to 500 GB.

Press Release Summary:



With rotational speed of 5,400 rpm, SATA 2.5-in. MKxx55GSX Series provides interface transfer rate of 3.0 Gbps, media transfer rate up to 952.7 Mbps, and average seek time of 12 msec. Mechanical design and servo techniques minimize noise, making drives nearly inaudible during operation. To protect data against potentially hazardous external events, free-fall sensor options are available. Drives provide storage solution for mobile PCs, game consoles, printers, and external storage.



Original Press Release:



Toshiba Introduces Half-Terabyte 2.5-inch Hard Disk Drive with Ultra-Quiet Acoustics and Enhanced Durability



State-of-the-Art Design Features Provide a Valuable Storage Solution for High-Capacity Mobile PCs, Game Consoles, Printers and External Storage

IRVINE, Calif., Nov. 18 /-- Toshiba Storage Device Division (SDD), the pioneer in small form factor hard disk drives (HDDs), today announced a half-terabyte 5,400 RPM, Serial-ATA (SATA) 3.0 Gb/s 2.5-inch HDD with a number of enhanced features that improve the user experience in mobile applications, as well as other digital devices.

Available in capacities from 500GB(1) to 120GB, the super-quiet and durable MKxx55GSX series is targeted for integration into notebook PCs, sub- notebooks, small form factor and energy star PCs, game consoles, printers and external storage devices.

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 MKxx55GSX drives, making them nearly inaudible during operation, with some models performing close to the threshold of human hearing.

In addition, optimizations in mechanics and servo design have boosted the durability of the series with operating shock tolerance matching the highest levels available on the market today. To further protect user data against potentially hazardous external events, free-fall sensor (FFS) options are available on the new MKxx55GSX series. Toshiba's state-of-the-art FFS technology enables the HDD to respond to drop events, providing additional protection to mobile devices if they are disturbed during operation.

"With a number of value-added technology features, this new 2.5-inch HDD series addresses the need for capacity and durability in mobile applications, while enhancing the overall user experience by minimizing noise from the storage component," said Maciek Brzeski, vice president of marketing at Toshiba Storage Device Division. "The acoustic performance renders these HDDs nearly inaudible, which is ideal for home entertainment applications, while the durability features appeal to mainstream mobile PC users. This family of products offers a comprehensive storage solution for integration into a wide range of applications."

Dedication to Environmentally Conscious HDDs

The new MKxx55GSX family reflects Toshiba's ongoing commitment to enhance the environmental soundness of its products by discontinuing use of certain chemical substances and reducing carbon dioxide emissions during operation for each successive HDD generation. Toshiba has eliminated specified hazardous halogens and toxic chemicals such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC), brominated flame retardants (BFR), antinomy trioxide and red phosphorus across all components incorporated in the drive. In addition, the 500GB MK5055GSX achieves a 20 percent improvement in energy consumption efficiency during operation over previous generation 2.5-inch products.(2)

Series Availability

Toshiba's new MKxx55GSX series will begin shipping in production volumes to OEMs and distributors in December 2008. More information regarding Toshiba's line of industry-leading small form factor hard drives is available at www.toshibastorage.com/.

Product Specifications

Model Number                                              MKxx55GSX Series
Maximum Capacity (Formatted) 500/400/320/250/160/120GB(1)
Number of platters 2/2/2/1/1/1
Areal density Up to 371.9Gb/in(2) (max)
Media transfer rate Up to 952.7 Mbps (max)
Average seek time 12 ms
Rotational speed 5,400 RPM
Buffer memory 8MB
Interface SATA 3.0Gb/s (and SATA 1.5Gb/s)
Serial ATA Revision 2.6 (ATA-8)
Interface transfer rate 3.0 Gb/sec
External dimensions (WxDxH; mm) 69.85mm x 100.0mm x 9.5mm
Weight (g) Dual-platter: 102g
Single-platter: 98g (max)
Energy consumption efficiency Dual-platter: 0.0012/0.0015/0.0019 W/GB
Single-platter: 0.0024/ 0.0038/0.0050 W/GB
Shock resistance:
Operating 3,920 m/s(2) (400G, 2ms)
Non-operating 8,820 m/s(2) (900G, 1ms)
Acoustics (Bels) Idle: 2.5 (dual-platter)/1.9 Bels (single-platter)
Operating: 2.5 (dual-platter)/2.0 Bels (single-platter)


About Toshiba Storage Device Division

Toshiba SDD, a division of Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc., leads the market in the development, design and manufacturing of small form factor 2.5-inch and 1.8-inch hard disk drives. Toshiba SDD markets high- quality peripherals to original equipment manufacturers, value-added resellers, value-added dealers, systems integrators, distributors and retailers in the United States. Inherent in the Toshiba storage family are the high-quality engineering and manufacturing capabilities that have established Toshiba products as worldwide leaders. For more information, visit www.toshibastorage.com/.

About Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc. (TAIS)

Headquartered in Irvine, Calif., TAIS is comprised of four business units: Digital Products Division, Imaging Systems Division, Storage Device Division and Telecommunication Systems Division. Together, these divisions provide mobile products and solutions, including industry-leading portable computers; projectors; imaging products for the security, medical and manufacturing markets; storage products for automotive, computer and consumer electronics applications; and telephony equipment and associated applications.

TAIS provides sales, marketing and services for its wide range of information products in the United States and Latin America. TAIS is an independent operating company owned by Toshiba America, Inc., a subsidiary of Toshiba Corporation, which is a global leader in high technology and integrated manufacturing of electrical and electronic components, products and systems, as well as major infrastructure systems. Toshiba has more than 198,000 employees worldwide and annual sales of surpassing U.S. $76 billion (FY2007). For more information on Toshiba's leading innovations, visit the company's Web site at http://www.toshiba.com/.

(C) 2008 Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc. All product, service and company names are trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of their respective owners. Information including without limitation product prices, specifications, availability, content of services, and contact information is subject to change without notice.

(1) 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.

(2) Energy consumption efficiency is calculated based on power consumption divided by formatted capacity, as defined by Japanese law. Compared to the previous generation 160GB MKxx52GSX product, the MK5055GSX provides a 20% improvement in energy consumption efficiency.

Web site: www.toshibastorage.com/ http://www.toshiba.com/

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