Hitachi Ships World's Speediest Notebook Hard Drive With Encryption Technology.

Accelerates Transition to 7200 RPM 2.5-inch Hard Drives

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (Hitachi) is today announcing volume shipment of the industry's highest-capacity, highest-performing notebook hard drive with new optional data encryption technology.

With double the capacity and a 22-percent1 performance improvement over its predecessor, the 200-gigabyte (GB), 7200 RPM Travelstar[TM] 7K200 reigns supreme as the leader in this elite notebook hard drive segment. Now, with optional hard-drive level "Bulk Data Encryption" technology from Hitachi, the Travelstar 7K200 offers even greater cachet to notebook users by helping to guard against data loss and piracy.

Dell and Alienware will be the first to offer the Travelstar 7K200 on select systems. It is available immediately on all Dell[TM] XPS[TM] notebooks and on all Alienware([R]) notebooks. Customers demanding the highest capacity storage found on mobile systems can create dual hard drive configurations with 400GB of available storage on the Aurora m9700 and the XPS M2010.

"Today's technology enthusiasts demand performance from every facet of their notebook computer," said Neil Hand, vice president, Dell's worldwide consumer marketing product group. "Incorporating best-in-class features, like the high-performance Travelstar 7K200, underscores Dell and Alienware's commitment to meet and exceed our mobile customers' expectations."

The 7200 RPM category of the 2.5-inch hard drive segment is considered the platinum class of notebook hard drives, designed for the most discriminating users. Hitachi is living up to this expectation by delivering first to market a 200-GB product with unmatched performance2, optional encryption technology and leadership shock specifications to further strengthen its position in this hard drive category. In addition, despite the higher motor spin speed, the 7200 RPM Travelstar 7K200 offers comparable power consumption, heat emission and acoustics to its 5400 RPM counterparts.

Hitachi will also offer 7200 RPM performance in an enhanced-availability version. The Travelstar E7K200 is designed for applications that require 24x7 data access.

"The 7200 RPM Travelstar is the rock star of our mobile hard drive family both for its technical merits and its desirability," said Shinjiro Iwata, chief marketing officer, Hitachi Global Storage Technologies. "The enthusiastic response to date confirms that consumers are ever more sophisticated in their notebook requirements and that the Travelstar has become a status symbol among notebook aficionados. As the industry's only third-generation 7200 RPM product, we believe the Travelstar 7K200 will continue to accelerate this trend."

Hitachi believes 7200 RPM 2.5-inch hard drives will account for 40 percent of all notebook hard drives shipped in 2010, representing a 25-percent compounded annual growth rate since 2005. Today, 7200 RPM products represent roughly 10 percent of total 2.5-inch shipments. The Travelstar 7K200 uses Hitachi's third-generation perpendicular magnetic recording technology.

Specs Defined

From a user standpoint, the Travelstar 7K200's leadership specifications translate into very tangible benefits3:

* 18-33 percent faster application performance than competitive 7200 RPM and 5400 RPM 2.5-inch hard drives could mean faster file copying and document retrieval, better graphics, faster game performance, etc.;

* Low acoustics offer users a richer audio-listening experience, especially as more and more users are listening to music and watching movies on their notebooks;

* 5400 RPM power parity means users don't have to give up battery life for the higher performance;

* 350 Gs operating shock tolerance gives users better data protection from vibration, bumps and drops than any other competitive hard drives.

Data Encrypted

Hitachi's "Bulk Data Encryption4" is a hard-drive level security mechanism that is offered as an option on the Travelstar 7K200. Today, data on a hard drive can be protected either through software-based encryption or a system-level password. However, hard-drive level encryption provides a higher level of benefit than both these options by offering better performance than software-based encryption and a higher level of security than system password protection.

In full or bulk data encryption, data is scrambled using a key as it is being written to the disk and then descrambled with the key as it is retrieved. Thus, data encryption at the hard-drive level represents a more sophisticated approach to securing users' data and is generally considered to be virtually impenetrable.

Another benefit that the Travelstar 7K200 offers with hard-drive level security is in the data-erasing process. Today, hard drives must either be physically destroyed or the existing data must be written over and over - a time-consuming process using a software tool - before it can be safely discarded without fear of data piracy or identity theft. Bulk Data Encryption would make data-erasing unnecessary when a hard drive needs to be discarded. By simply deleting the encryption key, the hard drive is rendered unreadable and, thus, safe from prying eyes.

With the rise in notebook theft and the relative ease in which software-based password security can be compromised, Hitachi's "Bulk Data Encryption" is an essential component for on-the-go notebook users.

The Travelstar 7K200 will be available in retail this summer at a suggested retail price of $249. Additional information will be provided closer to the time of availability.

1 Based on PCMark05 Benchmark testing

2 25 percent faster than closest competitive drive based on PCMark05

3 Data based on Hitachi internal testing

4 Encryption technology has no impact on the storage capacity of the hard drive.

[TM]Hitachi Global Storage Technologies trademarks are authorized for use in countries and jurisdictions in which Hitachi Global Storage Technologies has the right to use, market and advertise the brands. The Travelstar trademark is authorized for use in the Americas, EMEA and the following Asia-Pacific countries and jurisdictions: Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan. Please contact Hitachi Global Storage Technologies for further information. Other company, product and service names may be trademarks or service marks of others.

Technical Specifications

Travelstar 7K200 & E7K200

80/100/120/160/200 GB; 120/160/200 GB (E7K200)

9.5 mm in height

7200 rpm

164 billion bits per square inch maximum areal density 

1/1/2/2/2 glass disk platter(s); 2/2/2 disks (E7K200)

2/2/3/4/4 GMR recording head(s); 3/4/4 heads (E7K200)

1000 G/1ms non-operating shock

350 G/2ms operating shock

4.2 ms average latency

10 ms average read time/11 ms average write time

1.0 W active idle (not applicable to E7K200)

0.8 W low-power idle (not applicable to E7K200)

Serial ATA 1.5Gb/s, 1.5Gb/s encrypted, 3Gb/s; Serial ATA 3 Gb/s (E7K200)

115 grams in weight

2.2/2.2/2.5/2.5/2.5 Bels typical idle acoustics; 2.5 (E7K200)

2.6/2.6/2.9/2.9/2.9 Bels typical operating acoustics; 2.9 (E7K200)

About Hitachi Global Storage Technologies

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies is a storage technology leader, founded in 2003 through the combination of Hitachi's and IBM's hard disk drive businesses. Hitachi GST enables users to fully engage in the digital lifestyle by providing high-value hard disk storage in formats suitable for the office, on the road and in the home.

With its legacy in hard drive invention, Hitachi GST led the industry in celebrating the storage technology's golden anniversary in 2006. The hard drive has had a profound effect on the computing and consumer electronics industries after five decades of innovation. That heritage lives on at Hitachi GST today through products that define the standard for hard drive miniaturization, capacity, performance and reliability.

With approximately 33,000 employees worldwide, Hitachi GST offers a comprehensive range of hard drive products for desktop computers, high-performance servers, notebooks and consumer devices. For more information, please visit the company's Web site at www.hitachigst.com.

About Hitachi, Ltd.

Hitachi, Ltd., (NYSE:HIT)(TOKYO:6501), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is a leading global electronics company with approximately 356,000 employees worldwide. Fiscal 2005 (ended March 31, 2006) consolidated sales totaled 9,464 billion yen ($80.9 billion). The company offers a wide range of systems, products and services in market sectors including information systems, electronic devices, power and industrial systems, consumer products, materials and financial services. For more information on Hitachi, please visit the company's website at http://www.hitachi.com.