The Revolt of the Munchkins: 2.5" 5,400 and 7,200 rpm Hard Drives

Munchkins Rise To The Challenge: Fast 2.5" Hard Drives Put To The Test

The development of smaller and more powerful drives is largely limited by how data transfer rates depend to a large extent on the rotation speed of the storage disks. The smaller the disk, the slower it will be in absolute terms-even when data densities continue to rise sharply. Hence, Hitachi's latest 1.8" microdrives will not match the data rates of larger modern desktop hard drives.

But at least one vendor has been able to meet the smaller and faster challenge, which Hitachi has accomplished with its 7,200 rpm, 2.5" drive.

Patrick Schmid
Editor-in-Chief (2005-2006)

Patrick Schmid was the editor-in-chief for Tom's Hardware from 2005 to 2006. He wrote numerous articles on a wide range of hardware topics, including storage, CPUs, and system builds.