Fujitsu announced a breakthrough in notebook hard drives today with a 500Gb 2.5-inch notebook drive. The MHZ2 BT drive spins at 4200 rpm and consumes only 1.8W of power. Fujitsu says the drive is intended for notebook computers, DVRs and external hard drive applications.

"With the expansion of HD digital broadcasts and Internet-based video distribution, there is an increasing need for high-capacity hard disk drives that can handle large volume data storage in portable devices," said Lorne Wilson, senior vice president, sales and marketing, Fujitsu Computer Products of America, Inc. "Fujitsu will continue to focus on developing high-capacity and reliable 2.5" HDDs that will further enhance its product offerings in the IT and consumer electronics markets."

A 400GB version of the drive will be offered as well. The interface is SATA 3 GB/sec and the buffer to host transfer rate is 300MB/sec max. The read seek time is 12msec and the write seek time is 14msec. The drive produces 2.1 bels at idle, which Fujitsu claims is the best in its class. The drive will be available in May 2008 at an unspecified price.

Via Fujitsu