Toshiba bumps 1.8-inch hard drive capacity to 240 GB

Now where was this little hard drive when I got my first UMPC back in 2006? If I recall correctly, my first Samusng Q1 had a 40 GB hard drive and since it was the 1.8-inch size, upgrade options were pretty limited. Toshiba now has a 240 GB drive with a 1.8-inch form factor in the MK2431GAH model. How’d they cram that kind of capacity in such a small drive? By a combination of PMR, or perpendicular magnetic recording, and slipping in a second drive platter. The drive uses the slower 4200 RPM speed and starts up in mass production before the end of the month. Checking on the specs (PDF), I see that the drive is only 8mm in height which is great; many early devices were stymied by upgrade drives that were over 9mm and couldn’t fit. I don’t see any pricing announced yet.