Hitachi hard drive duo tag-teams mainstream mobile market; 4200 RPM drives add to breadth and depth of Hitachi mobile leadership - Hitachi Travelstar 4K80 from Hitachi Global Storage Technologies

EDP Weekly's IT Monitor, June 2, 2003

In a move that it hopes will strengthen its position in the mainstream mobile hard disk drive market, Hitachi Global Storage Technologies has introduced a second 4200 RPM offering. Hitachi's dual-product approach in the 4200 RPM segment will give customers supply flexibility, which is a considerable benefit in the supply-constrained environment of the current mobile market.

The new Travelstar 4K80 joins the previously announced Travelstar 80GN to make up the most technically advanced and comprehensive family of mobile products. The 4K80 is the most rugged mobile drive on the market with an industry-leading operating shock tolerance of 250 G/2ms, while the 80GN boasts the highest performance and lowest acoustic in a 4200 RPM mobile drive.

Both products implement the latest in areal density technology at 40 GB/disk and are available in one- and two-disk designs for a top capacity of 80 GB. The 4K80 begins volume shipment in June. The 80GN, shipping since January, has been a favorite with customers, who have purchased as many drives as Hitachi can produce.

"The industry-leading and complementary features of the 4K80 and 80GN offer our customers tremendous options in choosing the product that best supports the value proposition of their solutions," said Bill Healy, general manager, Mobile Business Unit, Hitachi Global Storage Technologies. "In addition, our ability to provide a second 4200 mobile drive offering at this time is a clear benefit for customers, who are looking for additional supply sources. And because the 4K80 and 80GN have roots in the Hitachi and IBM-legacy roadmaps, respectively, they also provide our customers with supply continuity within their own product plans."

Hitachi's family of Travelstar mobile hard drives addresses customer needs ranging from standard notebook implementations to emerging applications such as automotive and other consumer digital devices, which increasingly require higher performance and capacity. The 4K80 is available in 30, 40, 60 and 80 GB capacities. The 80GN has a complementary capacity offering at 20, 30, 40 60 and 80 GB.

The Hitachi mobile portfolio features the broadest range of performance from 4200 to 7200 RPM, the broadest capacity points from 20 to 80 GB and various form factors including 1.8- and 2.5-inch.