Toshiba continues to innovate and develop products that solve the challenges of everyday mobile computer users. These new drives use the latest generation GMR heads and head load/unload technology. Combined, these allow Toshiba to provide capacities of 6, 12 and 18GB so that all classes of portable computers, from entry-level to high-end, can boast industry-leading storage in a product that has a high areal density of 10.8 gigabits per square inch. Additionally, the 6.4GB drive gives users the world's highest areal density in a single-platter drive at 11.6 gigabits per square inch.

In addition to increasing capacities, Toshiba has also refined the drives' performance and value through several technology improvements. The 1,024KB buffer, which is twice the size of competitive drives, significantly improves performance for the user. The buffer contributes to the 15 percent improvement in the WinBench 99 score over previous industry-leading generations of Toshiba hard disk drives. This DRAM buffer is integrated into the Toshiba proprietary hard disk controller chip which allows the drives to load and unload data in blocks of 128 bits within one component, providing users with a cost effective means to gain fast access to data.

Because reliability is a cornerstone of Toshiba products the head load/unload mechanism isolates the head from the disk when it is not executing read/write instructions, giving the drives increased resistance to shock in addition to supporting the higher bit densities. These new drives all adhere to a high operating shock rating of 150G, and a non-operating shock ratings between 600G and 700G. These new drives combine a fast 4,200rpm rotational speed with a 13ms average seek time for high overall performance. The interface is ATA-4 compliant and supports UltraDMA/66 transfer rates of 66.7 megabytes per second.

The MK6014MAP, MK6414MAP and MK1214GAP drives measure 9.5mm high, while the MK1814GAV measures 12.5 mm high. Both slimline designs, combined with performance improvements and low power consumption, align these new drives with the market requirements for slimmer, lighter and faster notebook PCs.

Availability
The 6GB MK6014MAP, 6.4GB MK6414MAP, 12GB MK1214GAP and 18GB MK1814GAV are shipping now in samples, and will be available in volume production in August. These new products round out Toshiba's entire product offering of 2.5-inch hard disk drives to give the company a full range of high capacity drives targeted to the mobile computing marketplace. Toshiba's complete line of 2.5-inch drives range in capacities from 3.2GB up to 18GB.

Disk Products Division
Disk Products Division leads the market in the development, design and manufacturing of DVD-RAM, DVD-ROM and CD-ROM drives and 2.5-inch hard disk drives. TAEC Disk Products Division markets high quality peripherals to original equipment manufacturers, value-added resellers, value-added dealers, systems integrators and distributors in the United States. Inherent in the company's product line is the high-quality engineering and manufacturing which has established Toshiba products as worldwide leaders.

About Toshiba
Toshiba America Electronic Components, Inc. (TAEC) is the North American design, manufacturing, marketing and sales arm of Toshiba Corporation, a global technology innovator. TAEC is recognized as a leading supplier of semiconductor, electronic component and storage solutions. The company delivers technology solutions that enable OEMs to develop advanced integrated products for the computing, networking, communications and digital consumer markets. In fact, its technology offerings account for more than 30 percent of the total possible components used in desktop and portable computers. By continuing to develop leading-edge solutions that cost-effectively meet the emerging needs of the design engineering community, TAEC keeps its customers in touch with tomorrow. For additional information, please visit TAEC's web site at, http://www.diskproducts.toshiba.com.