Hitachi unveils 160GB ‘Super-perpendicular Drive’

Hitachi has a new hard drive hitting the market today. The Travelstar 5K160, called the Super-perpendicular Drive by Hitachi, is touted by the company to be the most reliable and technically-advanced 2.5 inch drive out there. It’s a 5,400 RPM drive with 160GB capacity designed for notebooks and mobile computing. It employs perpendicular magnetic technology, or PMR.

The drive employs an alloy combination which is unique to Hitachi and a new layer-deposition process, along with a new PMR write head, to produce better results and fewer errors. This technology means that the 5K160 is potentially the fastest drive that Hitachi has produced.

Hitachi is so enthusiastic about this second generation PMR technology that they are rolling out in this drive that they will be replicating the technology across their whole product line. The first generation PMR technology has been in field tests since 2004. They have hinted at a 1.8 inch PMR drive that will appear later this year.

The 5K160 will cost $269, or will be available as part of a notebook upgrade kit for $299.