Toshiba sent out a press release today announcing the launch of two additions to their 1.8” Serial ATA HDD line of products. The first is the MKxx33GSG series of 5400 RPM 320 GB, 250 GB and 160 GB mobile hard drives. The second new series is the low-power MK1235GSL 120 GB "ultraportable" hard drive. Toshiba brags that these new 1.8" HDDs are substantially tougher than their bulkier cousins.

The manufacturer claims that these new drives can handle up to 1,500 Gs of non-operational shock, and as much as 500 Gs of operational shock. That makes them 50% and 25% (respectively) tougher than their 2.5" counter-parts. These 5400 RPM devices are capable of a transfer rate of 830 MB/s, quite impressive by any standards.

Both of these new drives should be available at your local electronics store soon. The MKxx series will enter mass-production in December, while the MK1235s are already shipping out. For more info, you can check out Toshiba storage's website.

Launches like this inevitably turn my mind back to the state of storage devices when I was a kid. Back in 1995, a gigabyte seemed like an enormous amount of space. A 10 GB hard drive would have been enough space to store every game I could concievably purchase, with a vast reservoir left over. Now, of course, some video games close in on 10 GB, and you can purchase an external hard drive the size of a credit card with 320 GB of space. Progress marches on.