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Samsung's 500GB HDD and 250GB/7200 RPM HDD For Laptops
Posted by Sean Fallon at 4:20 AM on June 19, 2008
Today Samsung announced that two new laptop hard drives, the Spinpoint M2 and M6, are ready to ship with specs that offer a 2.5-inch 250GB HDD with a 7200rpm rotation and SATA II 3.0Gbps along with a 500GB HDD with a 5400rpm spindle speed, 8MB cache, and 3.0Gbps SATA respectively. That makes the M2 one of the fastest laptop hard drives on the market and the M6 the highest capacity laptop hard drive on the market. The Spinpoint M6 is available for US$299 and the MP2 for US$199. Full details are available in the press release after the break.
Samsung Announces Mass Production of the World's Highest Capacity Hard Drive for Mainstream Laptops
San Jose, CA on Jun 18, 2008San Jose, CA - June 18, 2008 - Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., a worldwide leader in digital consumer electronics and information technology, announced today the mass production of the world's highest capacity hard drive for laptops - the new Spinpoint M6, and mass production of one of the world's fastest laptop hard drives - the new Spinpoint MP2. The Spinpoint M6 features a stunning 500GB capacity and the MP2 has a 250GB capacity operating at a 7,200rpm rotation. Both hard drives are currently shipping. The Spinpoint M6 has a $299 MSRP and the MP2 has a $199 MSRP.
"The Spinpoint M6 is ideal for notebook power users who require vast amounts of storage space for their data, video and music files," said Hubbert Smith, Director of Storage, Samsung Semiconductor. "The MP2 has speed, features and capacity similar to a 3.5" hard drive and is perfect for users who require a smaller form factor with advanced data storage needs."
Size Matters: The 500GB Spinpoint M6 Hard Drive
The Spinpoint M6 fits the industry's standard 9.5mm height dimension and is armed with a massive 500GB capacity consisting of three 167GB platters, notebook PC manufacturers can integrate the Spinpoint M6 into the tens of millions of notebook PCs that ship every quarter as well as slim form factor PCs and high density mobile applications.
Mainstream notebook PCs can now support capacity of up to one terabyte by employing two Samsung Spinpoint M6 drives. For premium notebook PCs, the Spinpoint M6 meets the Microsoft fast-boot design requirements and supports ramp load and unload of up to 600,000 times.
The Spinpoint M6 500GB hard drive features a 5400rpm spindle speed, a 8MB cache, and 3.0Gbps SATA interface with a Free-Fall-Sensor available as an optional feature. Perpendicular Magnetic Recording technology enables the 500GB drive to store 160,000 digital images, 125 hours of DVD movies, or 60 hours of high definition video images. The drive also features Samsung's Flying-on-Demand head technology that improves recording stability over changing temperature ranges.
The Need for Speed: Spinpoint M2P Hard Drive
The Spinpoint MP2 is a 250GB 2.5" hard drive consisting of two 125GB disks. Operating at a 7200rpm rotation speed, the MP2 is ideal for high performance, desktop replacement notebook PCs, and entry-level enterprise applications such as workstations and RAID or blade servers.
In step with the surging growth of multimedia content and the demand for smaller form factor devices, 2.5" drives meet the stringent environmental demands of notebook PCs and slim form factor desktop PCs. The high performance characteristic of Samsung's MP2 expands the scope of applications for 2.5" drives to entry-level enterprise applications.
The Spinpoint MP2 features 7200rpm speed rotation, SATA II 3.0Gbps interface and Native Command Queuing functions for advanced performance. Samsung's proprietary SilentSeek™ and NoiseGuard™ technologies are incorporated in the drive to offer ultra quiet operation. An optional Free Fall Sensor is also available for data protection in case of any unexpected external impact. The Spinpoint MP2 drive has a 16MB buffer memory and is available in 80GB to 250GB capacities.
[Samsung]
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
itchytooth
Posted 6:11 AM 19/6/08
@mykalt45: I print out a guide from iFixit and, as I remove screw, I tape them to corresponding photo in the guide. The only part that's scary part is separating the case, because there are some retaining clips that take pressure to part. At the same time, there are some ribbon cables attaching the upper case to the motherboard, so you can't just yank it off. The cables are long enough to give you access to their connecting points though, so it's not that bad. Just be slow and patient.
itchytooth
cygnusx8
Posted 6:09 AM 19/6/08
It sounds like the perfect new drive for my PS3. 250Gb @ 7200 rpm. Would love to go with Velociraptor which spins @ 10,000 rpm but that's an extra $100 and I think performance gain will be negligible.
cygnusx8
TheSonOfKrypton
Posted 6:03 AM 19/6/08
Dude what the hell, does everyone on Gizmodo own a Macbook Pro now? This is bullshit. From now on, NO ONE is allowed to own an MBP except me.
TheSonOfKrypton
mykalt45
Posted 5:56 AM 19/6/08
Any good websites for the walk-through? I hear there are some wires that are easily broken that sit on top of the hard drive. I've taken apart Dells before without blinking, but digging into a Mac seems scary.
mykalt45
kenshin27
Posted 5:50 AM 19/6/08
WTF? Didn't they announce the 500GB was shipping in like, March? I guess they really mean it this time.
kenshin27
itchytooth
Posted 5:49 AM 19/6/08
@mykalt45: Here's another way to look at it: if you've ever upgraded the hard drive on an aluminum PowerBook, it's only about 40% as harrowing as that.
itchytooth
bms
Posted 5:46 AM 19/6/08
Didn't they announce these drives 6+ months ago?
bms
TheSonOfKrypton
Posted 5:38 AM 19/6/08
@mykalt45: Honestly dude I have no idea....I've never done it on my stock MBP with a 200gb 4200 RPM HDD.
TheSonOfKrypton
itchytooth
Posted 5:37 AM 19/6/08
Okay, I'll wait until the street price on the M6 hits ~$150, then I'll get two. One for the inside of my MacBook Pro, another for portable clone backup.
@mykalt45: It's not that hard, just kind of scary. As soon as I got mine, I upgraded to 320GB. It probably took about 30 minutes total.
itchytooth
mykalt45
Posted 5:27 AM 19/6/08
Is it pretty hard to upgrade the drive in an Intel Macbook Pro? I know Apple says it is not upgradeable, but I have seen conflicting reports.
Also, this would take care of my space problem with my PS3.
mykalt45
dead_red_eyes
Posted 5:27 AM 19/6/08
Hell yes, I gotta buy the M2 drive for my Macbook Pro! 250GB @ 7,200rpm is right on time.
dead_red_eyes
SigmundTheSeaMonster
Posted 4:52 AM 19/6/08
@TheSonOfKrypton: Um, 250GB is @ 7200RPM. The 500GB is only 5400RPM drive. Which still, isn't that bad.
Yeah. Do Want! And will get it and upgrade the ol' MBP 15"
SigmundTheSeaMonster
TheSonOfKrypton
Posted 4:50 AM 19/6/08
I want THAT* in my Macbook Pro NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NO NOW!
*Referring to 500 gigabytes of awesomeness of course.....At 7200 RPM.....*DROOLS*
TheSonOfKrypton
Modano
Posted 4:46 AM 19/6/08
Wow, that's awesome. Not as expensive as I would expect either.
Modano
CrzzyDggy
Posted 7:22 AM 19/6/08
@cygnusx8: I'm not sure a Velociraptor is compatible with the PS3. I know the drive is physically 2.5", but aren't the connectors and enclosure designed for 3.5"? I just say this since I've never seen anyone put one in a notebook before, much less a Playstation. Plus, I can imagine the 10K drive becoming quite toasty in the (comparatively) small PS3.
CrzzyDggy
Brau
Posted 7:19 AM 19/6/08
I have never had an issue with the rate data can be accessed on any recent HD. Conversely, I've noticed the faster the spin speed the longer they seem to take to ramp up to write speed, meaning ultimately I have to wait longer to get at my stored data unless I set the drives to never shut down. Personally, I am waiting for SSDs to become more affordable as I'm plain tired of looking at beachballs or hourglasses.
Brau
AbeniPera
Posted 6:12 AM 19/6/08
Hitachi just came out with a 500GB drive for laptops and I dropped it in my 17"MacBook Pro yesterday. It went pretty smooth but not for the feint of heart as it voids your warranty. It too is 500GB at 5400 RPM. and so far so good.
AbeniPera
mykalt45
Posted 10:36 AM 19/6/08
New ones. Too excited.
mykalt45
mykalt45
Posted 10:35 AM 19/6/08
@itchytooth:
Thanks for all the info. I will look into it.
@TheSonOfKrypton:
I rock a 2.4 C2D with 4GB of RAM and the 256MB 8600M GT. Love it! The news are spec-alicous though! 512MB!
mykalt45
Wess
Posted 11:54 AM 19/6/08
THANK YOU GOD!!!! I HAVE BEEN SEARCHING FOR MONTHS, COUNTLESS REPORTS AND DEADENDS. MY MBP CAN FINALLY HAVE SPACE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wess
desostros
Posted 3:57 PM 19/6/08
@Wess:
There there, take your meds now....thaaaats it....calm down son.
desostros
gilt1234
Posted 2:15 AM 20/6/08
I am still kickin a Dell C840
gilt1234
gilt1234
Posted 2:14 AM 20/6/08
Am I the only Giz reader who does not have a MBP.. I mean c'mon how proud of these things are you people
gilt1234
muledoggie
Posted 11:58 AM 20/6/08
I took a quick look at newegg and buy and didn't find the M6. Who is selling these? Is time machine a good way to restore my stuff without hosing my clean install of leopard?
muledoggie
Norcross
Posted 11:00 AM 23/6/08
@gilt1234: Nope, no Mac stuff at all here (other than the wife's iPod). This would go well in my Toshiba laptop
Norcross