Toshiba Launches New 1.8-inch HDD with Serial ATA Interface

Toshiba Corporation today announced new 1.8-inch hard disk drives
(HDD) that integrate a performance enhancing serial ATA interface: the
MK1216GSG offers a storage capacity of 120GB, while the MK8016GSG has
a capacity of 80GB. Mass production of both drives will start in
April.

Toshiba is committed to bringing the highest levels of performance
to mobile PCs, and the new drives achieve this goal. These are the
first Toshiba 1.8-inch HDD to employ a serial ATA interface, which
boosts data transfer rates beyond those achieved by the parallel ATA
interface, and also offer a rotation speed of 5,400 rpm, 29% faster
than the current generation of Toshiba HDD. Higher rotation speeds
support faster data access in reading and writing and enhance overall
drive performance.

Alongside high speed data transfer, the new drives offer compact
size, high level vibration resistance, and excellent shock resistance.
They will support development of light, compact PCs with no
compromises in performance. They will also contribute to achievement
of environmentally conscious products, thanks to near silent operation
and low energy consumption, and full compliance with the EU RoHS
directive.

Toshiba will showcase the new drives at Intel Mobility Summit, in
Shanghai, China from February 26 to 28.

Toshiba´s cumulative production of HDD now stands at 200 million
units since the company entered the business in 1967. Within that
total, the company has produced 60 million 1.8-inch HDD since 2000.
Building on these achievements, Toshiba will continue efforts to
develop innovative products that meet market needs.

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Outline of New Models
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Model name Formatted Capacity Dimensions
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MK1216GSG 120GB 54.0 x 78.5 x 8.0mm
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MK8016GSG 80GB 54.0 x 78.5 x 8.0mm
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Background

Hard disk drives for mobile PCs must be small, light and able to
withstand vibration and shock. While Toshiba´s 1.8-inch drives are
more robust than 2.5-inch HDD, they have not matched the larger drives
in data transfer rates. However, the launch of new 1.8-inch drives
that combine the use of the serial ATA interface with boosted
rotational speed achieves high speed transfer rates. The new drives
also run much more quietly than 2.5-inch HDD, close to silent, making
the new products much more suited to mobile PC.

Toshiba will continue its efforts to develop and produce high
performance 1.8-inch HDD that offer mobile PCs ever higher levels of
performance.

Key Features of New Products

1. Serial ATA interface with high transfer rate

Adoption of the serial ATA interface takes data transfer speeds
beyond that of the parallel ATA interface and achieves high
performance specs for mobile PCs.

2. High rotational speed

The drives operate at a maximum rotation speed of 5,400 rpm, 29%
faster than Toshiba´s current 120GB 1.8-inch HDD (MK1214GAH),
supporting much faster data transfers.

3. Compact and light

The new drives are compact and light compared to 2.5-inch HDD with
the same formatted capacity, and optimized for mobile PC applications.

4. High vibration and shock resistance

Compared to a 2.5-inch HDD with the same formatted capacity, the
new drives offer the higher levels of vibration and shock resistance
needed in mobile PCs.

5. Environmentally conscious products offering efficient power
consumption

Alongside capacity improvement, Toshiba has also achieved power
consumption efficiency of 0.00375W/GB for the MK1216GSG, as defined in
the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry´s Energy Conservation Law,
assuring a more environmentally friendly design. The new drives also
comply with the EU´s RoHS directive.

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Main Specifications
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Model name MK1216GSG MK8016GSG
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Formatted capacity 120GB 80GB
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Number of platters 2
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Number of heads 4
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Average seek time 15msec
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Rotational speed 5,400rpm
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Interface Serial-ATA 2.6
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Interface speed 1.5Gbps
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Dimensions (W x D x H, mm) 54.0 x 78.5 x 8.0
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Weight 62g (max)
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Energy consumption efficiency 0.00375W/GB 0.00563W/GB
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Shock resistance Operating: 4,900 m/s2 (500G, 2msec)
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Non-operating: 14,700 m/s2 (1,500G,
1msec)
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Note: Hard disk capacity is calculated on the basis of 1MB = 1-million
bytes, and 1GB = 1-billion bytes.
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