14 DAY TRIAL // There aren't many 2.5-inch hard drives, compared to 3.5-inch ones and SSDs, but Hitachi has just unveiled a new one, the Travelstar Z7K500.
If one were to learn only of the storage capacity and speed of this newcomer, they would not be overly impressed.
After all, there are many 500 GB hard disk drive units with a capacity of 500 GB and a platter speed of 7,200 RPM.
The 2.5-inch form factor and the drive thickness of only 7mm / 0.27 inches totally change the situation.
"Slim, compact, light-weight - no matter how you phrase it, there's no denying that thin is in, and this trend is driving broad market acceptance for our 7,200 and 5,400 RPM 7 mm 2.5-inch drives," said Brendan Collins, vice president of product marketing at Hitachi GST.
Hitachi hopes the drive to be adopted by not just super-thin laptops (ultrabooks even), but also by compact consumer electronics devices and industrial systems.
It should be easy for people to replace existing storage products, since they possess the same connectivity as them.
"We are proud to report that all major PC OEMs have qualified our previous generation 7 mm drives for a variety notebooks, Ultrabooks and CE devices, confirming that the industry continues to recognize the value and benefits of this new form factor. By adding the first 500 GB, high-performance 7 mm drive to our portfolio, Hitachi GST now offers the market's broadest 7 mm 2.5-inch hard drive portfolio to meet the needs of a diverse mobile computing and storage segment."
The 7 mm Travelstar Z7K500 2.5-inch HDD boasts 32 MB cache memory, the SATA 6.0 Gbps connectivity interface and 1.8 watts (W) read/write power, plus 0.8W low-power while idle.
March is when sales start, even if shipments to vendors of the 500 GB are already underway. There will be 320 GB and 250 GB models as well.