Fujitsu Announces 7,200 RPM 2.5-inch HDD

Fujitsu has announced what it claims to be the first 7,200 rpm, 320 GB 2.5-inch drive for use in high-performance notebook and portable systems.

Fujitsu has announced the MHZ2 BJ series of 2.5-inch hard drives intended for notebooks and other portable computer systems. But far from being just a capacity bump, the new drive boast a speedy 7,200 rpm speed, improving access times and delivering desktop-like performance. And, the new drives consume just 2.3 Watts of power during read and write operations, so they won’t (necessarily) suck batteries dry.

The new drives sport a 3 Gb/s SATA interface, and average 10.5 ms read time and 12.5 ms write time, a 16 MB buffer, and an operating shock resistance rating of 325 G (non-operating, that jumps up to 900 Gs). While idling, the drives draw just 0.8 Watts, and in standby draw just 0.13 Watts.

Toshiba says the drives should be available by the end of June, and the company hopes to sell two million units during its 2008 fiscal year.

Fujitsu currently offers 7,200 rpm notebook drives, but their capacities top out at 180 GB.