Toshiba's New 320GB 2.5-inch HDD Offers Industry's Largest^(*1) Storage Capacity

New line-up of nine drives includes model with
improved performance of 7,200 rpm rotational speed

TOKYO--Toshiba Corporation today announced the launch of nine new 2.5-inch hard disk drives (HDD) that employ the company's latest advances in HDD technology. The new drives include the MK3252GSX, which achieves an industry-leading^*1 capacity of 320GB, and the MK2049GSY, which improves performance with a 7,200rpm rotational speed. Toshiba will mass produce the drives in turn, starting from November.

The MK3252GSX uses an improved read-write head and enhanced magnetic layer to boost areal density and achieves a storage capacity of 320GB. The high-speed MK2049GSY offers a rotation speed of 7,200rpm and also integrates a large capacity 16MB buffer memory, supporting high-speed processing of large volumes of data: the drive improves the maximum internal data transfer rate by approximately 46%^*2 and increases the average random access time by some 8%^*2.

The new drives will provide product manufacturers with a broad line-up supporting many and diverse applications, including high density storage of multiple data sources, such as movies and digital photos, on high-end notebook PCs, and improved overall system performance from high-speed data transfers.

Both models support an optional Free Fall Sensor function, which detects falling HDD and parks the head before it crashes.

The new drives also comply with the EU's RoHS directive, which came into force in July 2006.

Toshiba will feature the new drives at the IFA 2007, one of the worlds's largest consumer electronics trade fairs, which will be held in Berlin, Germany, from August 31 to September 5. The Toshiba booth will be located at Hall 21a/Stand 101. The drives will also feature at DISKCON USA 2007, organized by The International Disk Drive Equipment and Materials Association (IDEMA), which will be held in Santa Clara, California, from September 19 to 20.

Background
Hard disk drives are now found in diverse applications, from mobile PCs to digital audio players. The market has a voracious appetite for larger data capacities, as more powerful networks and applications bring audio-visual capabilities to more products, particularly AV notebook PCs and new generations of digital media players. Toshiba will sustain the industry's ability to meet customer needs by providing cutting-edge technologies that add to areal density, operating speed and overall drive performance.

Key Features of the New Products
1. 320GB capacity, the largest capacity^*1 of any 2.5-inch hard disk drive
MK 3252GSX brings industry's largest capacity to a 2.5-inch drive.

2. Improved performance to 7,200 rpm rotational speed
MK2049GSY offers a rotation speed of 7,200rpm and integrates a 16MB buffer memory, supporting high-speed data processing speed of large capacities of data. The new drive increases the maximum transfer rate by approximately 46% and the average random access time by approximately 8%

3. Increased areal density from improved head and disk coating
Improvements in the head and the magnetic layer of the disk increase areal density.

Note: Hard disk capacity is calculated on the basis of 1MB = 1-million bytes, and 1GB = 1-billion bytes.