Seagate today launched a new hybrid notebook disc drives Momentus 5400 PSD that combine disc storage with flash memory to deliver ultra power efficiency, faster boot-ups and greater reliability for the laptop PC market. The new Seagate Momentus 5400 PSD (Power Savings Drive) hard drive uses non-volatile cache, or flash memory, to cost-effectively deliver the benefits of solid state disc drives. Once a notebook is turned on, a traditional hard drive’s platters must spin up before boot-up can begin. Hybrid hard drives load boot-up files on the flash memory to minimize this delay. Once the drive spins up, computer files are pulled simultaneously from the spinning media and the flash. Currently, Windows Vista is the only OS able to take advantage of the hybrid drive’s special capabilities, through Vista’s ReadyDrive technology.
Seagate’s Momentus 5400 PSD hard drives reduce hard disc drive power draw by up to 50 percent and extends battery life – especially important in mobile applications – by reducing platter spin time. In hybrid mode, the hard drive’s spindle motors spin down, dramatically reducing the drive’s power requirements.
