Samsung Electronics has revealed its new 640-Gigabyte (GB) 2.5-inch Spinpoint M7 internal hard disk drive. According to the company, the new 640GB hard drive has an areal density of 516-Gigabit per square inch for each 320GB platter, which is a 28% increase per platter over Samsung’s previous 500GB hard drive. The new offering is designed for mobile computing applications requiring shock resistance.
The company claimed that areal density of 516-Gigabit per square inch raises the total drive capacity without adding additional platters, and the two-platter 640GB drive has lower power consumption levels and higher operational stability compared to drives with a higher number of platters.
The new M7 drive offers a shock resistance level of 400G (2ms) in operation mode and 900G (1ms) when the power is off. The company added that an optimised system-on-chip controller reduces the power consumption in both seek and idle modes to the lowest level among comparable drives. The Spinpoint M7 utilises Samsung’s SilentSeek and NoiseGuard technologies to minimise noise-levels during drive operation.
The Spinpoint M7 series, which is available in 160-, 250-, 320-, 500- and 640-GB capacities, reportedly offers a rotational speed of 5400RPM, a 3.0Gbps SATA interface, Native Command Queuing and an 8MB cache memory.
C H Lee, vice president of storage sales & marketing at Samsung Electronics, said: “With the addition of the new internal drive to the M7 series, our customers will get the best viable combination of density, performance and reliability that is essential for high-end notebooks and mobile applications. Samsung maximises the density level of its platters to enhance the reliability and stability of its internal hard drives.”
Initial shipments will be available in Europe and the US from mid September, with worldwide availability starting from late September. The new hard drive will begin shipping at MSRP $150.
