I've been waiting for this one a long time. It's about time they finally made a dual platter using two 320GB platters for increased efficiency and speed (low access times). I currently have 2 x 640GB Western Digitals running in my desktop (7200RPM of course) and wanted one for my laptop. Unfortunately it wasn't available at the time, so I had to settle on a Seagate 7200.4 500GB which does have 2 platters (2x250GB). It's only a matter of time before the 7200RPM comes along but the 5400RPM should be plenty fast. The good news is it's 9.5mm and so it will work in all notebooks, laptops, and netbooks! Western Digital recently released 1TB 2.5" drives, but they were 12.5mm and so they WON'T fit in anyhting but a fat enclosure or desktop/server rig. In essence, they cheated..... Toshiba sure wins with this one. Let the hard drive wars continue!

Specs of the new drive:

• 640GB Capacity
• 5400RPM Maximum Speed (Rotation)
• 8MB Buffer (seems a bit small, but plenty adequate)
• SATA II Interface (3Gb/s)

Full Press Release and picture after the break

LINK

TOSHIBA INTRODUCES HIGH CAPACITY 640GB 2.5-INCH HDD

High-Capacity 5,400 RPM Series Targets Notebooks and Desktop PCs

TOKYO—Toshiba Corporation (TOKYO: 6502), the pioneer in small form factor hard disk drives (HDDs), today announced a new series of 5,400 RPM 2.5-inch HDDs offering up to 640GB of capacity, the industries' largest^[1] for a 2.5HDD capacity.  With demands for storage at an all-time high, Toshiba's new 2.5-inch HDD lineup is an attractive solution for an array of computing applications from high performance notebook PCs, all-in-one desktops, to high definition images applications, which can benefit from lower power consumption without sacrificing storage capacity.
With an areal density of 817.9Mbit/mm², (528.5 Gbit/in²), the new series includes 640GB, 500GB, 320GB, 250GB and 160GB models.  For added durability, Toshiba offers a free-fall sensor option to help protect the drive should the host system be dropped.
In operation, MK6465GSX delivers significant performance improvements from Toshiba’s previous generation of 5,400RPM drives, and energy consumption efficiency^[2] in raised by 28%. The MK6465GSX family is also compliant with the European Union’s RoHS directive^[3] and halogen free.^[4]
The new drives will begin sample shipping to OEMs and distributors this month.

[1]

As of September 2, 2009, in 2.5” HDD dual disk drives.

[2]

Energy consumption efficiency is calculated based on power consumption divided by formatted capacity, as defined by Japanese law.

[3]

The RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances) directive, which came into effect on July 1, 2006 in the European Union, limits the use of various materials including lead, cadmium, mercury, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyls (PBB) and ploybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) in electronic and electronic equipment.

[4]

The new drives achieve chlorine and bromine concentrations below 900ppm, and a combined overall total below 1,500ppm, achieving the standard required for recognition as Toshiba environmentally conscious products (ECP).