News 

The new TravelStar drive will be available in two models: the standard 5K500 for laptops and an enterprise E5K500 version rated for 24/7 usage in blade servers and video surveillance systems.

While Hitachi may have the bragging rights for reaching the laptop half-terabyte mark, there is a catch. In order to blast past the current 320GB pacesetters from Western Digital, Hitachi has had to squeeze another platter onto the stack, meaning that the new drives are 12.5mm thick as opposed to the standard 9.55mm. As a result they may not fit in certain laptops.

On the bright side, the drives feature a 3 Gb/sec SATA interface; Bulk Data Encryption; and a "Rotational Vibration Safeguard" system which Hitachi claims can detect when the drive is being jostled and stabilise the drive heads before damage occurs.

Asus will be the first manufacturer to use the 5K500, which will feature in its M50 and M70 notebooks, the latter of which will feature two drives providing 1TB of capacity.

The drives will start at $400 and will be available from February.

Check www.pcpro.co.uk from 6 January for full coverage of CES 2008