Toshiba has introduced a 1.8-inch drive that offers a storage capacity of 100 GB, in what is said to be the largest capacity yet achieved in this class of hard disk drive (HDD). The new drive, the company's MK1011GAH, employs perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) technology and an improved error correction code to secure the highest areal density of any 1.8-inch HDD in the market, 240.8 megabits-per-square millimeter (155.3 GB per square inch). Toshiba will start mass production of this new drive in January.

PMR technology was adopted for the new drive because it is superior in areal density recording and recording stability. The addition of an improved error correction code has made it possible to retrieve data with great accuracy at high areal densities, further contributing to increased capacity.

In addition to capacity enlargement, Toshiba has improved power consumption to an unusually low 0.003 W/GB. The new drive also complies with the European Union's RoHS directive, which came into force in July. Average seek time is 15 ms, data transfer rate is 100 MB/s. Rotational speed is 4200 rpm and the interface is ATA-7 (LIF connector). The dimensions of the MK1011GAH are 54 x 71 x 8 mm and its weight is 59 grams.

Toshiba will display the new drive at the International Consumer Electronics Show, in Las Vegas, Nevada from Jan. 8 to 11, at booth 12832.

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