Newsroom

Verbatim unveils their Next Generation 2.5'' HDDs, including World's First 500GB model

Verbatim, a global leader in digital storage solutions, has announced a new line of 2.5" Portable Hard Drives (HDDs), including the world's first half-Terabyte 2.5" Portable Hard Disk Drive (HDD) featuring an industry standard 9.5mm Z-height drive. These new, elegantly designed External Hard Drives allow consumers and businesses to add from 120 to 500GB removable capacity to their computer. The palm-sized external drives are now available from Verbatim stockists nationally.

The demand for higher-capacity portable storage devices at both consumer and corporate levels is being driven by the growing number of users who are creating and downloading volumes of digital content. The need for a fast, easy way to store, backup, share and transport data and multimedia files is fuelling the explosive growth in the worldwide removable storage industry.

IDC research shows that the digital universe- information that is either created, captured, or replicated in digital form- will increase from 281 Exabytes in 2007 to nearly 1,800 Exabytes in 2011, or 10 times that produced in 2006. Between 2008 and 2011, the compound annual growth rate is expected to be almost 60 percent. In addition to the higher capacity requirements, today's more mobile consumers and businesses are becoming more reliant on moving their digital content from one system to another. As a result, IDC sees greater opportunities for smaller devices such as 2.5" HDDs.

"Part of Verbatim's corporate strategy is to capitalise on this trend with an expanded line of External HD products that meet the diverse storage needs of consumers and businesses around the globe. Our new product range in a sleek black and silver design has been adapted to match the latest design trends in the laptop sector", said Tracy Myers, Verbatim Australia's Product Manager-Computer Accessories, Flash & Hardware.

World's First 500GB 2.5" HDD
Verbatim's 500GB 2.5" SmartDisk HDD meets the capacity, portability and convenience users need with a simple, easy solution for storing, enjoying, sharing and protecting their music, photos, video and personal files wherever they go. Business people can use the drive to share files between co-worker and partner office systems or to transfer files between office and home systems.

"Being able to add half a Terabyte of storage to your PC or Mac with such a small, easy to carry device is a new milestone in the portable storage industry," said Tracy Myers. "Imagine the convenience of being able to store, transport and backup all of your digital content without having to span disks or carry multiple storage solutions."

Weighing a miniscule 170 grams and measuring only 86mm X 137mm X 16mm, Verbatim's new 500GB 2.5" SmartDisk HDD is easy to carry when travelling with a laptop and requires minimal desk space when connected to a desktop system. Inside its rugged, ultra-modern case there are three 166GB platters that utilise advanced Perpendicular Magnetic Recording (PMR) technology to deliver breakthrough storage capacity in a small form factor. To optimise performance, the drive features a 5400rpm spindle speed and includes 8MB of cache memory.

Back-up software for Macs and PCs
When plugged in to the USB port of a computer, the drive can be accessed and used just like a computer hard drive. Users can drag files to the portable HD's icon to copy them, navigate to their HD in Open or Save dialogue boxes, or delete files stored on the HD. Verbatim Hard Drives are compatible with the latest operating systems Vista and Leopard. For regular back-ups, Verbatim's 2.5" HD combo (USB/Firewire) drives offer the "Time Machine" back-up feature of the Leopard Mac OS X operating system from Apple, thereby making them perfect for modern Mac products. In the USB models, Nero's "BackItUp 2 Essentials" software is used, providing professional data back-up with a range of individual settings. The software is also available in 26 languages.

Availability
The new range of 2.5" Verbatim HDDs are now available from Verbatim stockists nationally.

USB Models are as follows: 120GB - p/n 47558; 160GB - p/n 47560; 250GB - p/n 47562; 320GB - p/n 47564. The 500GB drive will be available later in 2008.
Combo drives are as follows: 120GB - p/n 47559; 160GB - p/n 47561; 250GB - p/n 47563; 320GB - p/n 47565.

About Verbatim
Verbatim Corporation, a Mitsubishi® Kagaku Media Company, is an international organisation that develops and markets innovative, high-quality products for storing, moving and using digital content. Known for its leadership in the removable storage media and related accessories markets, the company provides reliable, unique technologies and products that are highly sought after and broadly distributed worldwide. For more information, contact Verbatim Australia at 6 Weir Street, Glen Iris. VIC 3146, t. (03) 9823-0999, f. (03) 9824-7011; or email marketing@verbatim.com.au