Seagate Technology announced that its Momentus 7200.3 hard drive, the industry's first 7,200-rpm, 320GB hard drive for mobile computing, now powers Dell XPS laptop PCs and will be available soon in select Alienware laptops -- making the leading computer manufacturers first to market with systems featuring high-performance 320GB hard drives.

"Laptop users want every bit of capacity, performance and durability that desktop PCs deliver," said Michael Wingert, Seagate executive vice president and general manager, Personal Compute Business. "The new Momentus 7200.3 hard drive exemplifies Seagate's focus on delivering leading storage technologies that make it easier to move, use and protect digital information in the home, in the office and on-the-go."

Perfect for performance laptops, workstations and small form factor desktop PCs, the Momentus 7200.3 hard drive for on-the-go workers and consumers combines the industry's lowest power consumption, free-fall protection and industry-leading performance. Seagate's new 2.5-inch hard drive delivers up to 320GB of capacity and combines a fast Serial ATA 3.0 Gbit/second interface with 7200-rpm spin speed and a 16MB cache to enable the highest-performance laptops ever. The drive also is offered with G-Force Protection, a free-fall sensor technology, to help prevent drive damage and data loss upon impact if a laptop PC is dropped. The sensor works by detecting any changes in acceleration equal to the force of gravity, then parking the head off the disc to prevent contact with the platter in a free fall of as little as eight inches.

The Momentus 7200.3 hard drive is designed for a wide range of systems including mainstream notebook PCs, workstations, and small form factor desktop PCs. Offered in 80GB, 120GB, 160GB, 250GB and 320GB capacities, the 2.5-inch drive also is perfect for users looking to upgrade their notebooks to deliver true desktop PC performance.

The entire Momentus series is built tough to withstand up to 1000 Gs of non-operating shock and 350 Gs of operating shock to protect drive data, making the drives ideal for systems that are subject to rough handling or high levels of vibration. The hard drives are also lean on power consumption, allowing notebook users to work longer between battery charges, and are virtually inaudible thanks to Seagate's innovative SoftSonic fluid-dynamic bearing motors and QuietStep ramp load technology.