Original URL: http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/02/26/tosh_unveils_umpc_hdds/
Toshiba's post-HD DVD re-habilitation continues - today it announced two new 1.8in hard drives, a family of products it highlighted as a cornerstone of its future product strategy.
Enter, then, the 80GB MK8016GSG and the 120GB MK1216GSG, a pair of small HDDs aimed less at portable media players like the iPod - a key application for Toshiba's past 1.8in drives - and more at high-end notebooks and UMPCs.
Think of machines like Toshiba's own Portégé R500 - reviewed here (http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/02/25/review_toshiba_portege_r500/). The two drives weigh 62g and spin at 5,400rpm - a respectable speed for a notebook drive. They connect over a 1.5Gb/s SATA link. They're physically hooked up with a Micro SATA connector.
The drives measure 78.5 x 54 x 8mm, so they'd fit nicely into the MacBook Air had Apple fitted it with a SATA port. We hope there's an upgrade in the offing - the 5400rpm spin speed would certainly boost the Air's 4200rpm, parallel ATA interface below-par drive performance.
Whatever machine the Toshiba drives are destined for, they'll make for a cheaper, more capacious alternative to solid-state drives. Mass production of both HDDs will start in April.
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http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/03/19/toshiba_shows_off_laptop_revamp/
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http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/03/12/macbook_air_overheating_fix/
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http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/02/27/samsung_f1_hdd_fire/
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http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/02/21/pliant_startup_decloaking/
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http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/01/31/apple_ships_air/
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http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/01/17/everex_announces_9in_cloudbook/
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http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/01/09/ces_lg_silverthorne_umpc/
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http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/11/05/samsung_samples_sata_2_ssd/
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http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/03/14/sansdisk_flash_drive_for_laptops/