Toshiba has claimed a first with its MK2035GSS 2.5in notebook hard drive which uses perpendicular recording technology to achieve a massive 200GB of storage.

It's a twin-platter/four-head design which means that the MK2035GSS delivers the highest areal density yet achieved in a commercial hard drive of 277.1Mb per square millimetre - or 178.8Gb per square inch if you prefer imperial units. It can withstand 325g operating shock and 850g non-operating shock.

The Tosh has a 4,200rpm spin speed, a SATA II interface, 8MB of cache and an average seek time of 12ms. We expect the new Toshiba to ship in commercial quantities in August. ®