Join for quick access. Enter your email below and we'll send confirmation plus sign you up to our newsletter.
By submitting your information, you confirm you are aged 16 or over,
have read our
Privacy Policy
and agree to the
Terms & Conditions. Geographical rules apply.
Stay On the Cutting Edge: Get the Tom's Hardware Newsletter
Get Tom's Hardware's best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox.
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
Join the club
Get full access to premium articles, exclusive features and a growing list of member rewards.
An account already exists for this email address, please log in.
San Jose (CA) - Samsung is going more aggressively after the portable consumer electronics market with a new, slim hard drive in a 1.8" form factor.
The new "N" series of drives is available with capacities ranging from 20 to 60 GB and, in plain terms of capacity, won't cause much waves in a market that is starving for more storage space to store digital movies, music and pictures. However, what makes this drive series particularly interesting is its size.
Samsung achieves 60 GB capacity with just one 1.8" platter and therefore can claim to offer the highest storage density in this segment at this time. The limitation to one disk enabled Samsung to reduce the height of the drive to just 5 mm. This compares to about 7.8 mm of Toshiba's 1.8" MK drives, which integrates two platters and a total capacity of 100 GB.
The 1.8" segment is currently dominated by Toshiba, but especially Seagate and Samsung are showing more and more interest to manufacture this form factor, which, for example, is used by Apple in its high video iPod media players. While 60 GB will not bring more storage capacity to iPod-like devices (which are currently available with up to 80 GB), it could enable Apple and its competitors to develop more compact hard drive players that still can store, according to Samsung, 60 135-minute movies, 1500 40 MB music videos or 15,000 (4 MB) MP3 music files.
Samsung claims that the 4200 rpm hard drives are "among the quietest on the market today" and offer an operating noise that is slightly below the sound level that is detectable by the human ear. The power consumption of the drive is rated at 0.3 watts in low-power idle mode.
Stay On the Cutting Edge: Get the Tom's Hardware Newsletter
Get Tom's Hardware's best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox.
Tom's Hardware is the leading destination for hardcore computer enthusiasts. We cover everything from processors to 3D printers, single-board computers, SSDs and high-end gaming rigs, empowering readers to make the most of the tech they love, keep up on the latest developments and buy the right gear. Our staff has more than 100 years of combined experience covering news, solving tech problems and reviewing components and systems.
