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Hitachi announces super-slim 320GB, 7,200rpm hard-drive - just 7mm in height

by Tarinder Sandhu on 2 June 2010, 10:06

Tags: Hitachi (TYO:6501)

Quick Link: HEXUS.net/qaykc

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Think of computer storage and most enthusiasts' minds will be drawn to super-fast solid-state drives (SSDs), but there's life in the spindle-based dog yet - just ask Segate and Hitachi.

As 2009 drew to a close, Seagate announced a 2.5in super-slim hard-drive with a 7mm profile - making it comfortably slimmer than standard 9.5mm or 12.5mm alternatives and a likely candidate for ultra-slim computers.

Available in capacities of up to 250GB and sporting a single platter with a 5,400rpm speed, backed by 8MB of cache, the drive has stood alone in the ultra-thin space. Now, though, Hitachi has cooked up something even better.

7mm

Hitachi's Travelstar Z7K320 crams 320GB into the same 7mm form factor, but then ups the ante by providing a 7,200rpm rotation speed and 16MB of cache. Hitachi claims the drive will consume 1.8W when reading/writing and 0.8W when idling - handy for low-power machines.

Due to be made available in August, Hitachi states "its strategy to make it price-competitive with standard 9.5mm products, should drive broad adoption."

We reckon it would make a lot of sense in something like Intel's Canoe Lake platform, designed to facilitate the use of incumbent Atom chips in thinner, sleeker netbooks.

Learn more here.