Western Digital Corp. today announced it is now shipping its new line of WD Scorpio Black 7200 RPM 2.5-inch SATA (Serial ATA) hard drives for high-performance notebook computers and portable storage devices. Available in capacities up to 320GB, WD Scorpio Black hard drives are designed with ruggedness, reliability, and data-protection features that actively monitor and protect valuable data.The WD Scorpio Black family of hard drives is destined for use in OEM notebook systems as well as by users who want to upgrade the speed and performance of their current notebook system. As one of the fastest and most efficient hard drives on the market, WD Scorpio Black drives combine desktop-class 7200 RPM spin speed with a SATA 3 Gb/s interface and 16 MB cache to deliver maximum notebook performance.

"In today's busy and on-the-go lifestyle, notebook systems play an increasingly pivotal role in the home office and are relied upon to efficiently run sophisticated applications," said Jim Morris, WD's vice president and general manager of mobile storage. "High performance, high-capacity hard drives are a key ingredient to notebooks as system manufacturers continue to add data-hungry features that allow users to fully benefit from the latest computing technologies."

With the introduction of its latest-generation WD Scorpio drives, WD further expands the company's portfolio of 2.5-inch hard drives and continues to offer mobile computing and portable storage customers the same outstanding quality, reliability and performance that have earned the company a leadership position in the desktop and notebook markets.

WD Scorpio Black Exclusive Features:

• IntelliSeek - IntelliSeek technology calculates optimum seek speeds to lower power consumption, noise and vibration.
• SecurePark - WD's SecurePark technology parks the recording heads off the disk surface during spin up, spin down and when the drive is off. This ensures the recording head never touches the disk surface resulting in improved long term reliability due to less head wear, and improved shock tolerance.
• ShockGuard - WD's ShockGuard technology protects the drive mechanics and platter surfaces from shocks during shipping and handling and in daily operation.
• Free-fall Sensor - As an added layer of protection, if the drive (or the system it's in) is dropped while in use, WD's free-fall sensor detects that the drive is falling and, in less than 200 milliseconds, parks the head off the disks to help prevent damage and data loss.
• WhisperDrive - WD's exclusive WhisperDrive technology combines state-of-the-art seeking algorithms that result in one of the quietest 2.5-inch drives on the market.

Pricing
WD Scorpio Black hard drives will be available at select distributors and resellers. MSRP for the WD Scorpio Black hard drives are up to $249.00 USD (depending on capacity and features). More information about WD Scorpio Black hard drives may be found on the company's Web site at www.wdc.com/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=477.