1.8-inch hard disks offer more room, smaller footprint

“Toshiba announced three new 1.8-inch hard disk drives intended
to save space in embedded applications. Featuring special
connectors and a footprint that’s ten percent smaller than before,
the three MK2x39GSL drives are available in capacities of 160GB,
200GB, and 220GB, according to the company.

“All three drives, introduced on Jan. 24, feature
low-insertion-force (LIF) SATA connectors instead of micro-SATA
connectors, Toshiba said. These connectors reduce the footprint
required by the drives by about ten percent, which is critical when
the drives are designed for use in consumer electronics such as
camcorders and portable media devices, according to Scott Wright, a
Toshiba product manager.

“The drives have a single platter that rotates at 4,200 rpm and
have a seek time of 15ms, according to the published specifications
(listed later in this story). Toshiba also increased the buffer
size to 16MB from the more common 8MB.”

Complete
Story