Seagate Technology today announced the Momentus Thin drive, the world’s thinnest 2.5-inch hard disk
devices and consumer electronics. At a wafer-thin 7mm in height – 25
percent slimmer than traditional 9.5mm 2.5-inch laptop hard
and system integrators significantly lower cost-per-gigabyte storage
than solid state and 1.8-inch drives, enabling a new breed of
entry-level thin laptops.
Of all netbook computers available today, 90 percent feature 9.5mm
2.5-inch laptop drives because solid state and 1.8-inch hard drives are
largely cost-prohibitive for this market. The Momentus Thin drive
provides the lowest-cost storage for netbooks and thin laptops,
enabling computer makers to offer systems that reach a broader market.
"The Momentus Thin drive promises to help computer makers differentiate
on mobile-computing form factor and better compete in the fast-growing
markets for thin laptop PCs and netbooks," said Dave Mosley, executive
vice president of Sales, Marketing and Product Line Management at
Seagate. "Seagate is committed to helping its OEM and system integrator
partners meet market demand for thinner laptop PCs and plans to expand
storage capabilities for thin laptops as demand for these slimmer
models continues to grow."
The Momentus Thin drive rivals traditional 2.5-inch laptop drives in
performance and power-efficiency, enabling thin-chassis designs in all
segments of notebook computing and allowing OEMs both to design in
greater value on high-end netbooks for easier upselling and to create a
wider value differentiation between consumer and commercial laptop PCs.
The Momentus Thin drive features two capacity points – 250GB and 160GB
– an 8MB cache, a Serial ATA 3Gb/second interface and a 5400RPM spin
speed. The drive is scheduled to ship to Seagate’s OEM and integrator
partners in January 2010.
The Seagate Momentus family now helps laptop makers give home and
business users a sweeping upgrade path – from netbooks, often purchased
as introductory, low-cost laptop PCs strictly for emailing and Internet
surfing, to notebooks offering mainstream business and consumer
applications, to feature-rich, high-performance laptops, all in
standard-size and the increasingly popular thin models. Seagate
Momentus 5400RPM and 7200RPM hard drives in the traditional 9.5mm
height combine the industry’s broadest feature set – including
self-encryption, FIPS 140-2 certification and free-fall sensors – with
up to 640GB of capacity, fast 3Gb/second Serial ATA interface speeds,
cache sizes as large as 16MB, and among the highest hard
