Hitachi Global Storage Technologies is claiming the largest capacity mobile 2.5in hard disk after unveiling the 500GB Travelstar 5K500.

The $400 unit is due out next month and a $350 400GB model will be available shortly afterwards.

The Travelstar 5K500 is intended for use in 'slim' desktops, gaming consoles and full-featured notebooks, and represents the fourth-generation Hitachi mobile drive to use perpendicular magnetic recording technology.

New features include Rotational Vibration Safeguard, which the company claims serves as an "early warning" system'

The technology allows the drive to detect rotational vibrations that can cause disk read or write errors and make the necessary corrections.

The Travelstar 5K500 also includes 400G shock protection and comes with an optional 3Gbps Serial ATA interface.

Taiwanese notebook manufacturer Asus has co-announced the availability of a striped Raid configuration that will offer 1TB of storage featuring Hitachi's 500GB drive.