2.5 Inch -- Engadget

2.5-inch posts

WD ships 2.5-inch 640GB standard 9.5mm-height laptop drive

by Darren Murph posted Sep 9th 2009 at 8:13PM

Monkey see, monkey do -- ain't that right? Whatever the case, we're stoked to see one more player in the 2.5-inch 640GB game, with Seagate, Samsung and Toshiba recently introducing versions of their own. Western Digital's iteration -- the Scorpio Blue 640 -- sports a luscious standard 9.5mm-height package, which should fit just fine within pretty much any laptop out there. WD also claims that this HDD consumes some 30 percent less power than the previous generation Scorpio Blue, though the 5400RPM spindle speed certainly won't impress the performance junkies in the crowd. Look for it to slide into your next portable for $149.

[Via HotHardware]

Toshiba intros 2.5-inch 5400RPM 640GB hard drive in internal / external flavors

by Darren Murph posted Sep 2nd 2009 at 1:23AM

It's no speed demon, but Toshiba's newest 2.5-inch hard drive sure lets you store an awful lot of ~~illicit images~~ precious memories on a single unit. The 640GB MK6465GSX drive spins at 5400RPMs and is said to be the industry's largest in this form factor. The range also includes 500GB, 320GB, 250GB and 160GB models, with the whole lot shipping out to OEMs and distributors later this month. In related news, Tosh is also slapping these bad boys into a few shiny enclosures (Vivid White, Liquid Blue, Komodo Green and Rocket Red if you must know), giving storage junkies an even more capacious offering to slide into their briefcase. Of note, As of now, there's no pricing information available on the bare 640GB unit, but it should be available as we speak for $179.99 in external form.

[Via HotHardware]

Read - 640GB 2.5-inch hard drive
Read - External editions

Continue reading Toshiba intros 2.5-inch 5400RPM 640GB hard drive in internal / external flavors

Hitachi ships 500GB Travelstar 7K500: 7200RPMs in a 2.5-inch form factor

by Darren Murph posted Sep 1st 2009 at 3:01AM

Itching for a speedy and spacious new upgrade for your laptop? Ain't got the cheddar required to pop in a 512GB SSD? Then have a look at Hitachi's latest, a half-terabyte drive that spins at 7200RPMs yet draws just 0.69 watts when idle and 1.8 watts during read / write operations. The Travelstar 7K500 plays nice with the SATA interface and promises 16 percent better application performance than its predecessor, and for the paranoid in attendance, you can rest easy knowing that a BDE (Bulk Data Encryption) option enables users to have each and every byte encrypted as it's written. As of now, it's only shipping in "limited quantities" to top tier OEMs, but whenever it strolls into retail it'll land for $159.99.

Continue reading Hitachi ships 500GB Travelstar 7K500: 7200RPMs in a 2.5-inch form factor

Video: Another look at PS3 Slim and its removable HDD

by Ross Miller posted Aug 21st 2009 at 8:58AM

Sure, you've seen the pictures already, but just in time for the weekend, we thought we'd put together this video showing off the PlayStation 3 Slim, both on its lonesome and as it compares to the classic PS3 and its Xbox 360 competitor. There's also a small segment that confirms what many readers have asked about: yes, the 2.5-inch Serial ATA hard drive is indeed removable and is done so with Sony's blessing (i.e. no worries, it won't void your warranty). The HDD enclosure is located behind a front panel just under the disk drive, which is a snap to pull out once you undo the blue screw from the bottom of the console. Confused? Check out the video after the break, you'll see what we mean.

Continue reading Video: Another look at PS3 Slim and its removable HDD

OCZ's Indilinx-based Solid 2 SSDs bring MLC NAND to the masses

by Darren Murph posted Aug 12th 2009 at 7:54AM

Indilinx controllers are widely viewed as some of the best in the industry, and while most SSD manufacturers don't have any issues charging a few arms and a leg for the privilege of ownership, OCZ Technology is hoping to bring the charm and pizazz of said controller to the general populace. The firm's newest SSD range, the Solid 2 crew, is comprised of just two models to start: the 60 (64GB) and the 120 (128GB). Designed to fit into 2.5-inch laptop spaces, these "mainstream" SSDs offer up 125MBps read rates and 100MBps write rates, not to mention 64MB of onboard cache and "unique performance optimizations to keep the drives at peak performance." We're guessing that it's referring to that oh-so-endearing garbage cleanup system we heard about earlier in the week, but don't say you heard from us. Oh, and if you're curious about whether or not these are actually priced for Joe Six Pack, it looks like you'll have to ping your favorite flash dealer to find out.

Digital Cowboy's DC-MCNP1 2.5-inch NAS doubles as media player

by Darren Murph posted Jul 30th 2009 at 5:21AM

It's a little hard to believe that we've gone two whole months without a new device from Digital Cowboy, but at long last, the Japanese wrangler is hitting back with a striking new piece of consumer electronics goodness. The DC-MCNP1, which falls neatly into the Movie Cowboy family, is a 2.5-inch NAS drive at heart, but aside from giving you access to files on its diminutive internal drive anywhere in the world, it also streams a plethora of file formats to your HDTV. The HDMI / composite video outputs should take care of the vast majority of ya, and the USB 2.0 socket provides an expansion option for those needing to hook up an external HDD. An Ethernet port is built in for network access, but those who'd prefer to cut the cord can certainly plug a wireless adapter into that USB socket and pray continuously to the signal gods above. If you find yourself in Fukuoka next month, give this one a look if you've got ¥19,900 ($209) to spare.

WD ships industry's first 2.5-inch 1TB hard drive

by Darren Murph posted Jul 27th 2009 at 4:27AM

After being snubbed by Hitachi in the race to push out the industry's first 1TB desktop hard drive, Western Digital made darn sure it was first to ship a 2TB version. Now, the company is raising its fists in celebration once more with the introduction of the sector's first 2.5-inch 1TB mobile hard drive. 'Course, this isn't the first 1TB drive of any kind in this size, as that honor goes to none other than pureSilicon and its ultra-spacious 1TB SSD. Still, we recall thinking that a drive of this capacity wouldn't hit until 2010 at best, so we're steadfastly elated to hear that the Scorpio Blue 1TB (and Scorpio Blue 750GB) are shipping now to retailers. Of course, we can't help but gripe that both of these boast unorthodox 12.5mm form factors, which dwarfs the standard 9.5mm-height slot found in most laptops, but hey, progress is progress -- right? With that in mind, it's easy to see why both of these are being marketed hard in the external HDD market, with each unit slated to ship within a My Passport SE for $189.99 (750GB) or $249.99 (1TB). The full release is after the break.

Continue reading WD ships industry's first 2.5-inch 1TB hard drive

Lexar Media issues 64GB, 128GB and 256GB Crucial M225 SSDs

by Darren Murph posted Jul 20th 2009 at 9:28AM

It's been a long, long while since we've seen a new Crucial-branded SSD, but we'd argue that Lexar Media couldn't have picked a better time to end the hiatus. The M225 solid state drive family is the fastest, most capacious Crucial SSD line to date, and while they still lag behind OCZ's new Vertex Turbo SSD drives, they don't lag by much. The 2.5-inch SATA units can hit read speeds of up to 250MBps and write speeds of up to 200MBps, and the whole lot features MLC NAND flash memory and a SATA 2.0 (3Gbps) interface. Available in 64GB, 128GB and 256GB models, the trio is also fully compatible with the Crucial SK01 external drive storage kit, and unlike so many competitors, Lexar decided to go rouge and actually announce prices for the now-available units: $169.99, $329.99 and $599.99 in order of mention. Not too shabby, wouldn't you agree?

QNAP rolls out 2.5-inch, Atom-based SS-439 Pro Turbo NAS

by Donald Melanson posted May 20th 2009 at 3:06PM

QNAP's already stuffed an Atom processor into a few of its NAS devices, but it looks like the company is still only just getting started, and it's now rolled out yet another model in the form of the SS-439 Pro Turbo NAS. Like the similarly designated TS-439, this one will accommodate four SATA drives of your choice, although the SS-439 opts for 2.5-inch drives to keep the NAS even more compact. Otherwise, you can expect to get 1GB of DDRII memory in addition to that Atom N270 processor, along with support for RAID 0/1/5/6/5+hot spare configurations, three USB ports, two eSATA ports, and all the usual security measures you'd expect from a small business / SOHO-minded NAS. No word on pricing just yet, but it looks like this one should be rolling out to retailers right away.

RunCore Pro IV SSDs launched, tested, seem pricey

by Nilay Patel posted May 4th 2009 at 12:03PM

RunCore's always offered fast SSDs, but we're not so sure its new 2.5-inch ProCore IV drives offer the right mix of price, performance, and storage for the target market -- sure, they're fast, with up to 240MBps reads and 185MBps writes, but they're also expensive, starting at $179 for 32GB and quickly ramping up to $599 for 128GB and a whopping $999 for 256GB. That's a lot of scratch for the average laptop customer, and while the speed gains may be obvious, we're not so sure the storage tradeoff seems worth it. That said, RunCore's made it pretty easy to swap one of these puppies in: each drive includes a USB enclosure and cloning software that'll have you up and running at high speed in a jiff. Yeah, we're on the fence -- check out a video demo after the break and tell us if you think it's worth it.

Read - RunCore Pro IV press release
Read - jkkmobile tests

Continue reading RunCore Pro IV SSDs launched, tested, seem pricey

Century's all-in-one dock gives your netbook a greater sense of value

by Ross Miller posted May 2nd 2009 at 6:57PM

For those who need a little something more from their netbooks, at least while at home, Century's all-in-one dock should help out in that department. It fits just under the little laptop and features a pop-up fan to help with cooling, 8x DVD-writer, and a slot for a 2.5-inch SATA HDD or SSD drive, because let's face it, your digitized copy of the complete Doctor Who series probably isn't gonna all fit on your portable. It's compatible with XP and Vista, but no word on how well it'll jibe with Linux. It looks to be on sale now in Japan for ￥9,980 (US $100), and if you're needing some more intimate shots, Akihabara's got a hands-on with it.

[Via Everything USB]

Read - Product page
Read - Hands-on

Samsung's M7 500GB laptop drive can take a licking

by Thomas Ricker posted Apr 21st 2009 at 4:40AM

While we've seen plenty of 500GB hard disks for laptops but Samsung's SpinPoint M7 is the first with the guts to call itself "rugged." The dual-platter, 2.5-inch drive spins at 5400rpm and features a 400G operational shock tolerance -- that's about 50G better than the claimed tolerances of other 500GB drives and 75G better than Sammy's own Spinpoint M6. Expect to see the M7 ship sometime this month.

Super Talent ships $1,500 2.5-inch MasterDrive RX 512GB SSD

by Darren Murph posted Apr 8th 2009 at 4:49PM

Just a year ago, Toshiba was dreaming of 512GB SSDs while simultaneously trying to figure out why in the world HD DVD became such a dumpster fire. Fast forward to today, and you can own one of these mythical masterpieces (albeit with a Super Talent logo) if you don't mind parting with $1,499.99. Starting this very moment, the company's most capacious MasterDrive RX device yet is ready to rumble, bringing with it loads of MLC NAND flash, 230MB/sec read rates and 200MB/sec write rates. Suddenly, that forthcoming Z Drive doesn't look so outrageously priced, huh?

[Via HotHardware]

Seagate's 2TB Constellation ES is rife with potential space puns

by Ross Miller posted Feb 3rd 2009 at 8:02AM

It's been a long time coming, but Seagate's finally unveiled its first 2TB hard drive, the 3.5-inch Constellation ES. The hefty spinner also comes in 500GB and 1TB varieties and runs at 7,200RPM, which should make it a bit faster than Western Digital's behemoth, according to reviews for the latter. It'll be out calendar Q3, which we take to be fancy schmancy business talk for "this Summer." Meanwhile, the 2.5-inch ES-less Constellation line sports 3 Gbps SATA and SAS 2.0 interface. Look for this one in 160GB and 500GB sizes sometime this quarter, with Dell said to be one the first companies to offer the drives. Check out one more out-of-this-world promotional image after the break.

Continue reading Seagate's 2TB Constellation ES is rife with potential space puns

Toshiba's 500GB laptop drive is ready for the Christmas ball

by Thomas Ricker posted Nov 19th 2008 at 2:09AM

Oh hey, welcome to 500GB laptop drive announcement party Toshiba. Shame you had to come dressed in the same 9.5-mm slab, 2.5-inch 3Gbps SATA interface, 1.4 watt idle power draw, 5,400rpm spin, and 25dB hum as everyone else in the room. Pretty, but still embarrassing. No full-disk, hardware encryption but at least you can take comfort at besting some (but not all) of your competition by actually shipping your drive in December.

[Via Impress]