2.5″: the new disk drive sweet spot

500GB, 7200 rpm – who needs 3.5″?

Seagate announced two new 500GB notebook drives.  So what?

• The 50-year history of the disk drive is all about cramming more and more bytes on less and less real estate.  The real estate shrinks when drive formats drop a size.
• 500GB 2.5″ drives mean we’re close to not needing the capacity advantage of 3.5″ drives. It’s the beginning of the end for the 3.5″ form factor.  Servers have mostly made the switch with 2.5 SAS drives like Seagate’s Savvio.
• 500GB 2.5″ 7200 rpm drives mean notebooks can get desktop performance without sacrificing capacity.  Expect rapid adoption of 7200 rpm vs. 5400 rpm in notebooks now that there is capacity parity and less of a premium in power consumption.