14 DAY TRIAL // The thinnest hard disk drives are the ones that come in a single-platter, 5mm-thick 1.8-inch form factor, but the most popular ultrathin storage form factor continues to be the 7mm, 2.5-inch package. The package that HGST's newest creation uses.
Said creation goes by the name of Travelstar Z5K1000 and, is, as one might have surmised, part of the Travelstar Z-series.
Those familiar with HGST's (previously Hitachi's) product line will know that this isn't a portable HDD line, no matter how much the name sounds like it.
Instead, it is a collection of magnetic storage devices that exist to serve ultrathin PCs, like Ultrabooks.
The Travelstar Z5K1000 is, according to its maker, the drive with the industry's highest operating shock at 400G/2 ms, and non-operating shock at 1000G/1 ms.
In layman terms, that means the drive should be able to shrug off drops, bumps, and other sorts of rough handling.
Advanced Format is supported as well, for better drive capacity and error correction capabilities.
As for power consumption, the Travelstar Z5K1000 consumes 1.6W while writing and 0.5W in idle mode. All the while making 2.1 idle/2.2 seek bels of noise, which is almost none at all.
"The 7.0 mm 2.5-inch mobile market continues to be a strategic space for HGST as evidenced by our record 100M shipments," said Brendan Collins, vice president of product marketing, HGST.
"With the addition of our new 1 TB Travelstar Z5K1000, HGST continues to offer the market's broadest 5,400 and 7,200 RPM 7.0 mm 2.5-inch hard drive portfolio to meet the needs of a diverse mobile computing and storage segment."
The Travelstar Z5K1000 will be found only on OEM laptops, so HGST didn't provide a price. A 760GB version exists as well. Both feature self-encrypting drive (SED) capabilities via HGST's Bulk Data Encryption (encrypts using protected keys in real time).