Western Digital Corp. announced a new compact Western Digital hybrid drives in the form factor of 2.5 inches. These new items are made in a slim body with a thickness of only 5 mm. Thus, they can be used in the ultra-thin laptops and ultrabooks.
It is noted that, historically, that standard laptops are equipped 2.5-inch hard drives with a thickness of 9.5 mm housing. However, due to the increasing popularity of mobile devices more compact manufacturers had to use thinner components. As a result, at the beginning of this year, Western Digital began volume shipments of 2.5-inch hard drives with a case thickness 7 mm. To further meet the needs of the market, and was developed based on a hybrid drive technology with case thickness of 5 mm. This Western Digital hybrid drives takes about 50% less space than a standard mobile 2.5-inch hard drive. This novelty has a capacity of 500 GB, which is enough for most mobile devices. In addition, through the use of hybrid technology and flash chips MLC NAND achieves high speed operation of the drive, which in some cases can be compared with the performance of SSDs.
It is expected that the first demonstration of the new 2.5-inch Western Digital hybrid drives will be held in the framework of the event WD Investor Day, scheduled for 13 September. Then be disclosed and more detailed information about these devices.