Western Digital has announced that its new Scorpio Blue 2.5-inch notebook HDD is now shipping in volume to OEMs. The drive offers up to 500Gb of storage and has 250GB of storage space per platter. The drive is also available in 400GB capacity.

Other features of the drive include a 3 Gb/s transfer rate and SATA connectivity. WD says that the Scorpio Blue is the highest capacity 2.5-inch 9mm thick drive to ship to date. The drive was developed for OEM use. The drive will retail for $219.99 for the 500GB and $189.99 for the 400GB.

"WD continues to provide the mobile market with high-capacity storage everywhere consumers and business professionals travel," said Jim Morris, WD's vice president and general manager of notebook storage. "Notebook system manufacturers continue to improve performance, while adding data-hungry features. The WD Scorpio Blue 400 GB and 500 GB hard drives provide the capacity needed to maximize the latest features and functions available in today's notebook computers, while relying on WD's exceptional reliability."

Via Western Digital