Seagate Technology announced that it is now shipping its thinnest hard-disk drive (HDD) ever to OEM partners — the Seagate Laptop Ultrathin HDD. Just 5 mm thin, the drive was designed to be integrated into ultrathin, lightweight mobile computing devices and tablets, all while delivering high-capacity storage at an affordable price.
Seagate Technology announced that it is now shipping its thinnest hard-disk drive (HDD) ever to OEM partners — the Seagate Laptop Ultrathin HDD. Just 5 mm thin, the drive was designed to be integrated into ultrathin, lightweight mobile computing devices and tablets, all while delivering high-capacity storage at an affordable price.
Mobile computing device and tablet manufacturers now have another option, aside from flash memory and solid-state drives (SSDs), if they are looking for stable on-the-move data recording.
“When we originally demonstrated this solution last September, we knew we had a truly innovative product that would empower our partners to reimagine mobile applications,” said Steve Luczo, Chairman, CEO and President of Seagate Technology. “The strong support from our OEM partners indicates we have delivered on our vision and look forward to a new wave of innovative solutions enabled by this revolutionary product.”
The 2.5-inch drive is just 5 mm thin and weighs a mere 3.3 oz, making it about as thin as four stacked credit cards and lighter than a deck of poker cards. It delivers up to 500 GB of capacity in 25-percent less space than its 7-mm predecessor, freeing up valuable real estate within portable devices to accommodate additional designed-in features such as longer-life batteries and better air circulation. An affordable alternative to SSD storage, Laptop Ultrathin HDD helps blur the line between mobile computing devices and tablets by enabling new emerging applications like convertible, detachable and hybrid storage.
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“The new Seagate Laptop Ultrathin truly raises the bar, enabling us to finally create high-capacity, thin and light laptops that consumers crave at mass-market price points they can afford,” said S.Y. Shian, Corporate VP and GM of Asus' notebook business unit. “The drive's capacity, coupled with its ultraslim, lightweight footprint, empowers our engineers to think outside of the box and create truly groundbreaking, innovative system designs; it's a win-win for both us and the consumer.”
Delivering the best cost per GB and per millimeter in the industry for ultrathin applications, the svelte high-capacity drive can support more than 100,000 photos, 125,000 songs or 62 hours of HD film. The Laptop Ultrathin incorporates a 6-Gbps SATA interface for fast data transfer rates and comes with the industry standard SATA connector for easy integration into existing laptops, supported by both hard drive and SSD storage. SED encryption and a G-sensor (for write head protection upon detecting sudden drops) are available on the 500-GB capacity version.
The Seagate Laptop Ultrathin has an MSRP of US$89.
Industry Support
“Dell's heritage is built on empowering our customers to do more with their technology investments, with our unbeatable back-end expertise and cost-effective, tailored solutions that empower end users and IT administrators alike,” said Kirk Schell, VP of PC Product Group at Dell. “Our partnership with Seagate on HDD technology enables us to provide our customers with reliable, leading-edge, thin and light ultrabook and laptop designs with long battery life and uncompromised storage capacity.”
“Portable devices have a voracious appetite for data, yet at the same time, owners demand thinner and lighter systems. Seagate has solved both by productizing the Laptop Ultrathin HDD,” said Richard Doherty, Research Director for the Envisioneering Group. “Slimmer than a pencil, this revolutionary new drive gives freedom [and flexibility] to designers and convenience to consumers and businesses alike.”
“Our primary focus is to create IT solutions that deliver value. With consumers' ever-increasing demand for high-capacity mobile computing devices, coupled with today's data-intensive applications, technologies such as Seagate's 5-mm HDD are crucial for meeting end users' expectations,” said Wentao Yang, VP of Global Procurement at Lenovo. “And this new drive delivers on all fronts — not only enabling higher performance in many applications but also delivering high-capacity storage and providing consumers with a premium computing experience.”