Samsung is the first manufacturer to actually ship 500GB 2.5″ harddrives. Fujitsu and Hitachi have also announced the intention of launching 500GB 2.5″ harddrives, but none of them have actually delivered yet. There are two more things that separate Samsung’s 500GB drive from the other two. All three will use three platters to reach 500GB, but Samsung is able to fit all three inside the regular 9.5mm height measurement, while Hitachi and Fujitsu had to increase the height by 3mm. Also, the Fujitsu drive operates at a lower RPM; 4200 vs. 5400 for the Hitachi and Samsung harddrives.
This makes both of the competing harddrives too large for most standard-sized laptops, but will work just fine with the desktop-replacements as these usually have more room for these kind of things. Samsung wants more than that though, and since it’s new drive will work with any laptop, it hopes to see a broad adaption. The drive is being shipped out to OEMs and PC builders right now, and will cost $299.
