One Terabyte Notebook PC from ASUS
Asustek Computer is first out of the gate to offer a notebook PC with one Terabyte of storage capacity, in a two-drive configuration. The ASUS M70 notebook integrates two of Hitachi’s Travelstar 5K500 - 500GB 2.5-inch hard drives for a whopping 1TB of storage, while the new ASUS M50 comes with a single 500GB hard drive. We've been waiting for Hitachi's one terabyte hard drives to show up in one form or another for notebooks.
One Terabyte of storage capacity translates to 1,000 hours of video, or more than 350 feature length movies or 250,000 four-minute songs, which should make any multimedia enthusiast happy. Both the M50 and the M70 notebooks are multimedia ready, and provide a high-definition audio and video experience, and features that include a sleek LCD cover, a multimedia console-like design, ergonomic full-size keyboard and a separate numerical keypad, and a dual-mode touch pad for easy access to playback controls.
The Travelstar 5K500 features Hitachi’s Rotational Vibration Safeguard (RVS) technology to mitigate any adverse impact on system performance from unexpected vibrations or shocks to the system enclosure. RVS serves as an “early warning” system for the drive, enabling it to sense a possible vibration in advance and take the necessary steps to stabilize the drive head. RVS is particularly important for many of today’s full-featured notebooks that include premium speakers for enhancing a user’s experience with movies, music and games. When played at maximum volumes, notebook speakers can inadvertently cause vibrations that may not be noticeable to the user.
“Digital entertainment on-the-go is growing rapidly and notebooks are being used to run more powerful, memory-intensive applications,” said Tony Chen, General Manager of ASUS Notebooks Business. “Our notebooks with the Hitachi Travelstar 5K500 provide the answer to users who demand systems that combine large storage capacities with desktop-class performance and features.”
The ASUS M50 and M70 laptops will be presented at CES 2008, and are expected to be available in February and March. You'll have to check back for official pricing.
