Toshiba Announces 1.8-Inch HDD Family With Industry-Leading 240GB Capacity for Portable Media Players, Camcorders and Ultra-Mobile PCs

IRVINE, Calif., Sept. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Toshiba Storage Device Division (SDD), the pioneer in small form factor hard disk drives (HDDs), today announced the world's first dual-platter 240GB(1) (MK2431GAH) and single-platter 120GB (MKxx31GAL series) 1.8-inch HDDs for integration into portable media players, camcorders and compact ultra-mobile PCs for the holiday shopping season.

The new MKxx31GAL series also includes an 80GB capacity offering, rounding out the most complete line of high-capacity 4,200 RPM 1.8-inch HDDs for consumer electronics (CE) and mobile PC system manufacturers.

Toshiba's two new Parallel ATA HDD families feature the industry's highest areal density at 344 gigabits-per-square-inch, using fourth-generation perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) technology, which was first introduced and commercialized by Toshiba in 2005. Toshiba's technology leadership in PMR has enabled the company to consistently deliver leading-edge capacities in the 1.8-inch form factor to support growing demand for the miniaturization of mobile devices to run digital video, photo, audio and computing applications.

The new 1.8-inch HDD series uses a new mechanical and firmware design for enhanced durability, making the 80GB and 120GB single-platter HDDs well-suited for slim-line mobile gadgets and PC applications. The new dual-platter 240GB MK2431GAH product is especially suitable for light-weight mobile PC applications and high-end digital video camcorders, which require high capacity and ruggedness to protect users' valuable digital assets.

Striking Balance Between Performance and Energy Consumption

Design elements incorporated in the 240GB MK2431GAH optimize power performance to new levels with a 33 percent overall improvement in energy consumption efficiency(2) over Toshiba's previous generation two-platter, 160GB 3,600 RPM 1.8-inch model. In addition, Toshiba's entire line of new 4,200 RPM 1.8-inch HDDs delivers solid performance while state-of-the-art electrical components reduce power consumption during read and write operations by 20 percent, resulting in a cumulative improvement in power management. In addition, PC applications benefit from the performance boost of an 8MB buffer.

"Toshiba's dedication and focus on 1.8-inch HDD product development over the past decade has enabled us to continually drive innovation in this form factor -- from robust capacity introductions to improved performance and power efficiency," said Maciek Brzeski, vice president of marketing at Toshiba Storage Device Division. "Thanks to these continual advancements, 1.8-inch HDDs have become an ideal form factor for the digital world, where the ability to handle rich digital content in a mobile environment is king."

Toshiba has been the market share leader in the 1.8-inch HDD category since its first product was introduced in 2000 and has cumulatively shipped more than 60 million 1.8-inch HDDs worldwide. The company's new 1.8-inch HDDs also reflect a commitment to enhancing the environmental soundness of its products by discontinuing use of certain environmentally harmful chemical substances across all components incorporated in the drive and reducing carbon dioxide emissions during HDD operation. In particular, the MKxx31GAL series has been designed to lower carbon dioxide emissions by 54 grams per year.(3)

Toshiba's new 1.8-inch HDDs will be incorporated into CE and mobile PC products shipping this holiday season. Interested developers and design engineers can visit http://www.toshibastorage.com for more information regarding Toshiba's line of industry-leading small form factor HDDs.

    Product Specifications
    Model Number                                   MK2431GAH
    Maximum Capacity (Formatted)(1)                  240GB
    Number of platters                                2
    Areal density                                 344 Gb/in(2)
    Media transfer rate                            488 Mbps
    Average seek time                                15 ms
    Rotational speed                               4,200 RPM
    Buffer memory                                     8MB
    Interface                                 Parallel ATA (PATA)
    Interface transfer rate                       100 MB/sec
    External dimensions (WxDxH; mm)         54.0mm x 71.0mm x 8.0mm
    Weight (g)                                     59g (max)
    Energy consumption efficiency                 0.0013 W/GB
    Shock resistance:
                      Operating             4,900 m/s(2) (500G, 2ms)
                  Non-operating            14,700 m/s(2) (1,500G, 1ms)

    Model Number                               MKxx31GAL Series
    Maximum Capacity (Formatted)(1)               120GB/80GB
    Number of platters                                1
    Areal density                              344 / 229 Gb/in(2)
    Media transfer rate                      488 / 324 Mbps (max.)
    Average seek time                                15 ms
    Rotational speed                               4,200 RPM
    Buffer memory                                8MB or 256KB
    Interface                                 Parallel ATA (PATA)
    Interface transfer rate                       100 MB/sec
    External dimensions (WxDxH; mm)         54.0mm x 71.0mm x 5.0mm
    Weight (g)                                    48g (max.)
    Energy consumption efficiency           0.0025W/GB, 0.0038W/GB
    Shock resistance:
                      Operating             5,880 m/s(2) (600G, 2ms)
                  Non-operating            14,700 m/s(2) (1,500G, 1ms)

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 inthe 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 http://www.toshibastorage.com.

About Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc. (TAIS)

Headquartered inIrvine, 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 inthe United States andLatin 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.

(3) Comparison against Toshiba's one-platter, MK6015MAP model, which generates 887 grams per year in carbon dioxide emissions and is used as the established baseline for carbon dioxide emission measurements on the company's 1.8-inch products.

SOURCE Toshiba Storage Device Division

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