Mobile personal computers are getting slimmer and, in order to continue this trend, components of notebooks need to get smaller too. However, excessive miniaturization means higher cost and/or lower performance, which contradicts with other trends: personal computers are getting more affordable and their performance is increasing.

Seagate Technology, the world’s largest maker of hard disk drives, has unveiled a relatively low-cost 2.5” hard drive that will enable slimmer laptops not only without affecting manufacturing cost, but also without sacrifice of performance and storage space. Seagate Momentus Thin is just 7mm in height, which is 25% slimmer than traditional 2.5” hard disk drives (HDDs).

The Momentus Thin drives with 5400rpm spindle speed, 8MB cache and Serial ATA-300 interface will be available in two capacity points – 250GB and 160GB. The drive is scheduled to ship to Seagate’s OEM and integrator partners in January 2010.

Of all netbook computers available today, 90% feature 9.5mm 2.5” laptop drives because solid state and 1.8” hard drives are largely cost-prohibitive for this market. According to Seagate, Momentus Thin drive gives original equipment manufacturers (OEM) and system integrators significantly lower cost-per-gigabyte storage than solid state and 1.8” drives, enabling a new breed of entry-level thin laptops.

“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. 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,” said Dave Mosley, executive vice president of sales, marketing and product line management at Seagate.

Tags: Seagate