Hard drive maker Seagate announced that it will re-enter the notebook hard drive arena. Segate is beginning volume shipments of it's new Momentus notebook hard drive line. Sources indicate that leading notebook computer makers have welcomed Seagate's re-entry into the fastest growing segment of the computer market. Momentus is the industry's first notebook hard drive to combine a high-performance 5,400-rpm spindle speed with the low battery-consumption of a traditional 4200-rpm notebook hard drive, so customers no longer have to choose between performance and mobility.

Along with a rise in demand for notebook computers is a demand for increased performance. Seagate claims that until now, a faster drive wasn't practical in notebook computers because it consumed the battery too quickly. The Momentus will feature a 5400-rpm spin speed, optional 8-MByte cache, and low battery consumption that's competitive with 4200-rpm hard drives due to optimization of power management in the drive's on board electronics.

Seagate is well known for its quiet and rugged hard drives, and has made Momentus whisper-quiet by using proven Seagate SoftSonic FDB motors and the innovative QuietStep ramp load technology. QuietStep parks the heads safely off the disc during standby, but reduces the clicking sound typically made by other notebook hard drives when loading and unloading its heads to the ramp. Seagate's rugged design gives Momentus a 225-G operational shock tolerance, among the best in the industry.

Momentus will offers capacities of 20 and 40 GBytes using a single platter design, and is shipping to OEM customers now. Seagate says that it will focus on OEM customers at first, but expects to move into the notebook upgrade market in the future.

Read the entire release here .