Toshiba MK1237GSX (120 GB, SATA)

The Toshiba 2.5" drives at 5,400 RPM are available at a maximum capacity of 80 GB per platter and 160 GB per drive. While other manufacturers offer few capacity options for their mainstream offerings, Toshiba drives are available in almost every conceivable capacity: 40, 60, 80, 100, 120 and 160 GB.

On the one hand, the 120 GB version impressed us with its very quick average access time of 16.0 ms, which is the best result among the 5,400 RPM drives. On the other hand, the drive is limited with an interface bandwidth of less than 90 MB/s, although the interface is specified for SATA/300 speed. Because of this interface choice, the Toshiba drives are not as efficient as the products by Fujitsu, Hitachi or Samsung. A 1.1 W idle power requirement, which goes up to 3.3 W when active, is a lot, as there are products that offer much better energy efficiency. However, the access time and I/O performance are very good.