Toshiba to Launch High Capacity 3 TB 3.5-inch HDD for Consumer Products

[Cristian_25H]

Toshiba Corporation today announced the launch of a family of advanced 3.5-inch HDDs that bring multi-terabyte capacities to the consumer space. Four series of high-performance models offer a total of 12 variants: four models offering 3 TB capacities, complemented by models offering 2 TB and 1.5 TB levels of storage. Volume shipments of the drives, produced with manufacturing equipment acquired in a recent transaction with Western Digital Corporation of the United States, will start at the end of this month. In adding these drives to its current line of 250 GB to 1 TB consumer-use 3.5-inch HDDs Toshiba will expand its product coverage to a wide ranging 250 GB to 3 TB.

The high capacity storage devices that add to the performance of today's digital devices, among them desktop PCs, external hard drives, digital video drives and TVs with an integrated recording function, must match advances in HD image quality and the proliferation of TV channels and other digital sources with density advances that can meet increasingly heavy demands on capacity. Toshiba is making this possible with a new product line-up that includes 3.5-inch drives with a full 3 TB capacity.





The new line-up is configured to meet diverse needs. The DT01ACA300, DT01ACA200 and DT01ACA150 offer a rotational speed of 7,200 rpm, appropriate for high performance desktop PCs. The DT01ACA300V, DT01ACA200V and DT01ACA150V are equipped with a streaming function to handle data transfer within a specified time, and are optimized for applications such as digital video recorders that must record and playback video data without any delay. Toshiba has also responded to energy-conscious users with low power consumption models offering rotational speeds of 5,700 rpm and 5,940 rpm; compared to the 7,200rpm variants, these models reduce power consumption by 19 to 25%.

Since the start of this fiscal year, as the result of a series of strategic investments that culminated in securing capabilities in 3.5 inch HDD for consumer products, Toshiba has realized the ability to develop and market hard disk drives in all key product areas. By complementing this with SSD solutions for both enterprise and consumer applications, Toshiba is uniquely positioned to meet demand across the entire range of customer needs.

Key Features

1. 3 TB high capacity
New drives with a 3 TB capacity can meet growing demand for storage of multiple HD video sources.

2. 6 Gb/s high speed SATA I/F
High-speed data transfers are secured by adoption of state-of-the-art SATA I/F capable of a 6 Gb/s transfer rate. This assures smooth playback on desktop PCs and HD video recorders.

3. Low acoustics seek technology
"Silent seek mode" performs data seek much more quietly. It reduces noise by 1 dB and 2 dB compared to normal mode for products with three and two disks, respectively. This feature is highly suited to viewing music with noise reduction in quiet environments.

4. Reduced power consumption in idle mode (Option)
A rotation speed reduction mode can be added as an option. In this mode, rotation speeds in idle mode are automatically reduced. In the DT01ACA300, 5.2W power consumption in normal rotation is reduced to approximately 2.4W. (Approximately 54% reduction)

5. Environmentally Conscious Products
RoHS compatible
The new drives are compatible with the European Union's RoHS directive on the elimination of six hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment.

Product Specifications





View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[Bull Dog]

It is worthy of mentioning that when WD was buying Hitachi, the US Justice Dept. (or some government agency) told WD they had to sell off Hitachi's 3.5 inch manufacturing arm before they would approve the acquisition.

WD sold Hitachi's 3.5in line to Toshiba. So in reality these are Hitachi HDDs that Toshiba is selling.

 

[KissSh0t]

Too much p0rn.

 

[Imperceptible]

It is worthy of mentioning that when WD was buying Hitachi, the US Justice Dept. (or some government agency) told WD they had to sell off Hitachi's 3.5 inch manufacturing arm before they would approve the acquisition.

WD sold Hitachi's 3.5in line to Toshiba. So in reality these are Hitachi HDDs that Toshiba is selling.

While it's true that these are basically Hitachi drives, the way it came about it different to the way that you, or mainly the media explain it. It was both the FCC and the EU who forced WDC (the father company of WD Technologies, the guys who make hard drives) to set up Toshiba with the ability to produce their own 3.5 inch drives, based on the Hitachi GST technology, rather than a direct sell off. This was to ensure there was still a good amount of competition in the 3.5 inch marketplace.

In saying that, believe it or not, but the Chinese Ministry of Commerce (China's equivalent of the FCC/EU) required WDC to run HGST (www.hgst.com) and WD Technologies as separate entities that compete with each other for at least 2 years. So in theory that means there will be 4 competing companies making 3.5 inch drives, rather than just the 2 that everyone was worrying it would be.

For more info see:

http://www.wdc.com/en/company/hgst/

and just for some substance, a few direct quotes from one of the press releases:

http://www.wdc.com/en/company/pressroom/releases/?release=96593E40-7BE2-4EBF-AD35-68CF58AB194D

the two subsidiaries will compete in the marketplace with separate brands and product lines while sharing common values of customer delight, value creation, consistent profitability and growth."

to conditions required by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce ("MOFCOM") including adopting measures to keep HGST as an independent competitor until MOFCOM agrees otherwise (the minimum period is two years).

So at the end of the day, this is great news for consumers.

 

[WhoDecidedThat]

Whats new in this..

 

[RejZoR]

3TB... not thrilled at all. I want 4TB drives, 1TB per platter...

 

[Drmark]

so I dont see the price anywhere? Prices are still way to high.

With there only being a couple of real drive manufacturers, one cannot help but wonder about price collusion.
4tb drives are in the $330 price and up for almost a year. 3tb drives were $105, now still over $150 unless on sale. The drive companies in Thailand that were flooded replaced the destroyed equipment with new equipment. They said operations would be restored by March…. And yet…. Prices are still in the silly high range 8-9 months after the flooding.
Where are the 5tb drives? Should have been released by March. “They announced that after the floods.”
I can’t help but think the drive manufacturers are colluding on the prices to add to their bottom line. With Windows 8 coming, I can see them keeping the prices artificially high through at least January 2013.

These prices are getting real old.

 

[Kreij]

It reduces noise by 1 dB and 2 dB

Typical human hearing cannot percieve a change that is less than 3 dB.
Even at 3 dB it's not very noticable.

 

[tacosRcool]

I don't like Toshiba HDDs...... all that I have seen are ones that failed.

 

[Jacez44]

Typical human hearing cannot percieve a change that is less than 3 dB.
Even at 3 dB it's not very noticable.

But doesn't it double at like 60+ dBa every 1 dBa?

 

[GSquadron]

You must be kidding right? Human ear barely hears 10db!

 

[Roph]

I miss samsung

 

[TheGuruStud]

I miss samsung

Sammy is probably kicking themselves.