IBM's Travelstar 8GS hard drive, due out in December, holds 8.1 gigabytes of data &£45;- so much that if all the information on the disk were printed out on double-spaced sheets of paper, those papers, when stacked, would be taller than the Empire State Building.

At just two-thirds of an inch thick, it's designed for high-end corporate notebook computers. The company has also developed a 3 gigabyte drive &£45;- the Travelstar 3GN &£45;- aimed at the ultraportable laptop market.

(c) Information Week