Fujitsu prepares 300GB notebook drive

Fujitsu is planning to release a 300GB hard drive for notebooks, which it says will set a record for SATA (serial ATA)-based 2.5-inch drives.

The vendor argues that the capacity of these kind of drives is now so high that they can replace the need for 3.5-inch desktop PC hard drives, which traditionally have offered greater storage capabilities.

Fujitsu will utilize perpendicular recording to achieve the new level of 300GB. Its 2.5-inch drive, called the MHX2300BT, is scheduled for release in February 2007.

Perpendicular recording boosts storage capacity by aligning the magnetic domains vertically. Fujitsu aims to sell a total of 1.5 million units of the MHX2300BT, and a smaller drive with a capacity of 250GB called the MHX2250BT, by March 2008.

In October, Fujitsu launched a lower-capacity drive using perpendicular recording.

Rival vendor Toshiba offers a 200GB notebook drive, while Hitachi and Seagate both offer 160GB drives. Seagate also offers a 750GB hard drive for desktop PCs.

SATA is popular as a computer bus technology because it is less complex, and therefore cheaper, than the alternative, SCSI.

Richard Thurston reported for ZDNet UK in London.