Toshiba Unveils New World's Highest Capacity 1.8-inch HDD

September 10th, 2008

Toshiba Corp. today announced the world's first dual-platter 240GB HDD (MK2431GAH). The new drive delivers the highest capacity and areal density in the 1.8-inch drive category for integration into portable media players, camcorders and mobile PCs.

Toshiba also announced new 120GB (MK1231GAL) and 80GB (MK8031GAL) capacity offerings, rounding out the most complete line of high-capacity 4,200 RPM 1.8-inch HDDs for consumer electronics and mobile PC system manufacturers.

The new 240GB drive and 80GB drive will enter mass production at the end of September, and the 120GB is now in mass production.

Toshiba's 240GB MK2431GAH and 120GB MK1231GAL achieve an areal density of 344 gigabits per square inch (531.9Mbit/mm²), the industry's highest areal density in the 1.8-inch form factor, using perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) technology, which Toshiba introduced and commercialized 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 miniaturization without sacrificing capacity for 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 high-end digital video camcorders as well as light-weight mobile PC applications which require high capacity and high shock resistance to protect the users' valuable digital assets.

The new design elements incorporated in the MK2431GAH optimize power efficiency to new levels with a 33 percent overall reduction in energy consumption efficiency over Toshiba's previous-generation model of MK1626GCB (160GB 3,600 RPM) 1.8-inch HDDs.

Provided by Toshiba