Toshiba Introduces Industry's Largest-Capacity, Single-Platter 1.8-inch HDD

[btarunr]

Toshiba Corporation, the industry pioneer in small form factor hard disk drives (HDDs), today introduced a new line of 1.8-inch HDDs with a capacity of up to 160GB on a single-platter, and a slim five-millimeter high profile targeting next-generation portable media players, digital video cameras and other consumer electronics products.

With an areal density of 723 Mbit/mm² (467 Gb per square inch), the industry's highest, Toshiba's new MK1634GAL family of 1.8-inch HDDs offers consumer electronics manufacturers a thin and light package with the industry's largest storage capacity, best power consumption efficiency, highest durability and quietest seek operation of any HDDs on the market.



Equipped with a PATA interface, 4,200 RPM rotational speed and acoustic-reduction features, Toshiba’s MK1634GAL HDD is ideal for audio and video playback applications that require high capacity in a small footprint with quiet operation to maximize the entertainment experience of the host device. Leveraging Toshiba's long history of technology expertise in miniaturization and the 1.8-inch HDD form factor, the MK1634GAL is the quietest hard drive produced because of its size and the advanced acoustic management techniques that Toshiba has incorporated into all of its recent mobile HDD platforms.

In operation, MK1634GAL family delivers significant environmentally friendly performance improvements from Toshiba's previous generation of 1.8-inch drive, including a 24% improvement of MK1634GAL in energy consumption efficiency. The MK1634GAL family is also compliant with the European Union's RoHS directive and halogen free.

Shipping now to consumer electronics manufacturers, the compact 160 GB model leads the MK1634GAL family with mass production of the 60 GB, 80 GB and 120 GB models scheduled in late September. The series targets a variety of consumer-oriented applications, including product lines that offer a range of capacities and price points.

[SkyKast]

very cool, do you think we will be seing this in the next wave of iPods? convenient realease time compared to that of the next get iPods

[Imsochobo]

soooo smaaaalll.

and yet 160 gb, bet its uber slow though :S so it works in ipods, doesnt matter that anymore with touch iphone and androide now already supports spotify, no need for more than 16 gb local storage!

[Mussels]

this will end up in many MP3 players, not just ipods.

imagine if a console like the PSP or DS came with one of these...

[A Cheese Danish]

Originally Posted by Mussels

imagine if a console like the PSP or DS came with one of these...

Then it would be epically sweet! But I do wonder who will implement them first, and to what they will
implement them into...

[ToTTenTranz]

1.8" HDDs are rapidly becoming pointless.

As soon as SDXC cards become standardized, hard drive solutions for small form factors will disappear.

[h3llb3nd4]

Originally Posted by ToTTenTranz

1.8" HDDs are rapidly becoming pointless.

As soon as SDXC cards become standardized, hard drive solutions for small form factors will disappear.

yeah, but when? that's the question...

[ToTTenTranz]

Originally Posted by h3llb3nd4

yeah, but when? that's the question...

I'd say 1 year.

[SkyKast]

8MB of buffer memory and a data transfer rate of 100MB/sec.

not bad...and I couldnt find a price anywhere but I think, suprisingly enough, the SD cards and such are comparably priced, maybee a tad priceyer but like everything will come down

once they figure out the 1TB microSD which is being worked on, the game will be over

[timta2]

Originally Posted by SkyKast

very cool, do you think we will be seing this in the next wave of iPods? convenient realease time compared to that of the next get iPods

I'm pretty sure that this drive is in the iPod Classic 160GB that was unveiled yesterday. Apple often has new hardware in their products before others.

http://store.apple.com/us/browse/hom...mco=Nzk2MDUyMw

They have come a long way from the 5GB 1.8 Toshiba that is in my original iPod which I ordered the first day available (still works!).