Cool. It’s still a little rich for my blood, but if you can figure out how to hot-swap the CF cards without losing data, this could be an awesome little gadget. It’s got a SATA interface, but you could probably rig it up to sit outside the computer so you can pop in new pairs of cards whenever you need to.
It’s difficult to say whether it’s practical at this point. The board costs $200, then you can buy a couple of these things for $70 each – that’s a 32GB solid-state SATA drive for about $350, or a 64GB one for $560 if you buy 32GB cards. That’s cheaper than the retail alternatives, and you have the benefit of being able to upgrade the capacity for the cost of the media.
Super Talent Technology claims that this solid state drive (SSD) is the world’s thinnest, with a capacity of 256MB. Does that really matter to us in any practical sense? Probably not, no, but it’s always fun to look at these “most/biggest/bestest” deals. The FSD56GC25H (easy to remember!) can double as a SATA hard drive thanks to its use of the standard 2.5-inch size and interface.
How thin is it? STT says it’s 40 percent thinner than its nearest competitor. That’s nearly half the size, which isn’t unimpressive.
You and I, not being OEMs, probably can’t buy it directly, I’m afraid.
Via I4U News
According to an analyst’s recent visit to Asia, a certain unnamed computer manufacturer is seeing a 10-20% failure rate of notebooks with solid state drives. CNET’s Michael Kanellos posits that it’s probably Dell, since it’s “so far the manufacturer that has promoted flash drives in notebooks the most.”
Apparently Samsung’s got a solid state drive in the works that corrects most of the issues seen with current drives, according to someone at Dell. The rep wouldn’t comment on the other issue concerning whether or not the high-failing notebooks came from Dell but did acknowledge that flash-based drives aren’t always faster, especially with programs like Microsoft Outlook.
The industry is also looking to shift from single-bit flash memory to the more-affordable multi-bit memory but multi-bit is known to be less reliable. So if the single-bit memory is failing at such a high rate, the move to multi-bit wouldn’t be too popular at this time. The industry might start making the shift at the end of the year, which would drive SSD prices down. On the whole, however, flash memory prices have fallen about 50% since Q4 of last year, so they should eventually become much more affordable.
Analyst: Returns, technical problems high with flash-based notebooks [Crave]
Keep it on the down low, but it looks like OCZ has is using Samsung as a source for its 32GB and 64GB SATA II drives. I guess that’s not really that much of a shock. But it’s good news, because OCZ will actually be making these things available naked to consumers, as opposed to Samsung, which has most of its drives locked up in notebooks and such.
So if you’re an early adopter, now’s your chance to switch your system disk over to an insanely expensive solid state disk. It’ll only run you half a grand for 32 gigs or a grand for 64. Or if you prefer, wait a little while and get the 128 gig version, and I’ll let you do the math on how much you can expect to shell out for that thing.
OCZ SATA II 2.5″ SSD [via DailyTech]
There are some shady rumors going around that SSD memory might be sketchy. The rumors say that after 100,000 writes, the RAM starts to fail. Not so, says Samsung’s Michael Yang. He wants you to know that it might start to fail after 100,000 writes to every single cell in the chip, something that would be virtually impossible.
Truly, SSD is the memory format of the future. Less power hungry, lighter, and with no moving parts to break, it will be the hard drive for laptops of the future, with some, like a variant of the MacBook Air, already featuring the technology.
Samsung defends flash reliability in solid-state drives [C-Net Blogs]
Solid state drive capacity and availability continues to grow with the announcement of Mtron’s 128GB 1.8-inch SSD.
It’ll have maximum read/write speeds of 120MBps and 100MBps, respectively, and will be targeted at UMPC devices.
It’s got a PATA interface, so it can replace most existing notebook hard drives pretty easily. And with the 6X speed bump and half the power consumption (compared to standard drives) that the company claims, it could be a worthy, albeit pricey, contender to your notebook’s hard drive nook.
Read More
We all like the MacBook Air. Well, most of us. I don’t. But if you’re thinking of getting one, and waffling between the HDD and SSD drives, go with the HDD. And don’t take my word for it, take uncle Walt Mossburg’s.
His crew ran a series of tests on a standard hard drive-based Air and on a solid state drive-based Air, and found the SSD doesn’t make that much difference in battery life. While it does cut the boot time down considerably, it’s moot when you take into account how fast a Mac boots anyway.
Bottom line: Is it worth the extra money? No way. Go HDD and get on with your life.
The Wall Street Journal’s Walt Mossberg (SSD) and AnandTech’s Anand Lal Shimpi (HDD) have each issued reports on the battery performance of Apple’s new MacBook Air models after putting the notebooks through some extensive real-world tests [Apple Insider]
I knew it. I told you people, and nobody wanted to listen. I said that the next great tech battleground would be in tiny, ultra-portable PCs and everyone laughed. Well chuckle no more, hombres, because the upgrades coming to the Everex CloudBooks could just start things off with a bang.
The director of marketing for Everex says that the next rendition of the little guy will add solid state HDs, larger touchscreens, and girlie coulors to the mix. The CloudBooks have the Eee PC right in its sights, and while it’s too soon to see how things will turn out, it’s a new market we’re definitely keeping an eye on.
Future CloudBooks to Have Touch, SSD, 22-inch Screens? [Laptop]
BiTMICRO has apparently forgotten what decade we hare in and gone straight to the Star Trek era of storage. Their Ultra320 SCSI SSD holds a whopping 1,600 gigabytes of data and has sustained data transfer rates of 230MB/sec. That’s Star Trek, people.
Too bad this thing is going to cost Star Trek prices too; a terabyte will run you about $250 now when you’re buying platters. Solid state media is probably five times more expensive (look at the MacBook Air), and something special like this, ten times more expensive.
BiTMICRO 1.6TB SSD [Ubergizmo]
Hewlett Packard has a new “ultra-slim” PC available starting at $729 with an optional 16GB solid-state hard drive for an additional $328 if you configure one to your liking.
So for almost half the value of the computer, you can go from an 80GB SATA hard drive to a 16GB solid-state drive.
It’s nice that HP and others are deciding to at least offer these solid state drives, but it’ll be even more exciting when the price of the drives moves from the thermosphere through the mesosphere, then down, down, down through the stratosphere, eventually settling in the troposphere with all the other hard drives.
I’ll be the first to admit that I’d like to own a computer with a solid-state drive (even if it means giving up storage capacity) but only when it’s only marginally more expensive or the same price as a regular drive.
How much (if any) would you pay for a solid-state drive?
HP Compaq dc7800 Ultra-slim Desktop PC Small & Medium Business [HP.com] via CNET
We’ve been hearing about these 32GB and even 64GB solid state drives set to make computers faster, less power-hungry, lighter, queiter, less evil, cleaner, and sexier. BiTMICRO is going a step further — no, make that about 20 steps further — by launching this new 832GB solid state drive (SSD) at CES next week.
No word on pricing yet, but it promises to be cheaper that comparable drives by utilizing new proprietary technology they’re calling MLC memory, but to us it sounds like Voodoo. We’ll hit this guy up next week in Vegas, and you can look for them to hit shelves 3rd quarter 2008.
Forums post [Mac Rumors forums, via Slippery Brick]
I’m a big fan of Crucial. I have 2GB of RAM in my MacBook from them. I’m also a big fan of today’s announcement regarding their new SSD for notebooks. The 2.5-inch drive will come in 32GB and 64GB models with a low latency of 1ms. It’s hot swappable and slides into the SATA port or you can get an external kit, SK01, that converts the drive for compatibility via USB. No word on price or date, but they’ll become available some time this quarter.
Press Release
We obviously don’t pay enough attention to Buffalo and I’m not entirely sure why, but the mighty herd out of Japan has announced the SHD-UHRS line of SSDs. Big deal, right? It can’t get any bigger than 64GB. *Buzz* Buffalo is dropping a 100GB SSD on your ass at the end of the month. The only downside is that it’s USB so you won’t be installing the baby behemoth into your rig. That’s pretty sweet and all, but an $885 price tag may deter some folks from picking one up.
Product Page
In a move that makes sense, perfect or otherwise, Intel has announced that it’ll soon be manufacturing UMPC-specific boards with embedded Z-P140 PATA solid-state drives.
The drives will apparently be available in 2- and 4-gigabytes and up to four drives can be embedded on a board, giving you up to 16-gigabytes to work with.
Look for the first wave of these devices in the first half of next year. Intel has also said that it’ll include drives of up to 64-gigabytes in size within a few years.
Intel unveils Tiny Solid State Drive for UMPCs [Techshout.com]
The conventional notebook hard drive continues to face down its inevitable replacement as Toshiba today announced that it’ll be entering into the solid state drive game.
Mass production will begin in March of next year with 1.8-inch SATA drives being offered in 32-, 64-, and 128-gigabyte capacities. Throughput for the drives will be 3Gbps with a maximum write speed of 40MB/second and a maximum read speed of 100MB/second. No word yet on prices but the more of these drives that hit the market, the cheaper they’ll cost.
Toshiba Launches High Performance Solid State Drives with MLC Devices [Press Release]
This morning, Samsung announced it would begin shipping its new 1.8-inch 64GB SSD. That’s 64GB of porn data that can be accessed very quickly. Some of the features that make this SSD pop include faster startup times, skip-proof data protection, since there’s no moving parts, and extended product life. It also uses less power, meaning there’s no need to scoop up that 600W power supply you saw on sale last week.
Since the drive is aimed at UMPC and tablet PC manufacturers, no price has been given. But since SSDs aren’t that commonplace yet, I’m assuming it doesn’t come that cheap. Perhaps three years down the road these will be a dime-a-dozen, but not today.
At Computex Taipei 2007, SanDisk showed off its two new additions to its line of solid state drives (SSD): SanDisk 1.8-inch 64GB UATA 5000 and 2.5-inch 64GB SATA 5000 SSD products. This was trumped by PNY’s announcement of a 2.5-inch 128GB SSD. SanDisk and PNY are stating read speeds of 67MBps and 66MBps, respectively. How’s that for fast boot times and file access, eh?
Neither company lists prices for the drives since they seem to be only going to OEMs right now. PNY sells its 32GB drive at around $350 for large volume orders, so you do the math. Also, don’t expect the PNY drives till third quarter 2007 (its 128GB drives I mean, the 32GB models are currently shipping). SanDisk’s new 64GB models, however, are available now.
PNY Technologies Debuts Solid State Drive Lineup [press release]
SanDisk SSD Solid State Drives [product page]
What could be better than waking up at the crack of dawn and finding out that there is an LED-backlit laptop? A lot of things, actually, but it would be nice if the Japanese tech overlords would send us the latest VAIO. We’re all frothing over the highly rumored LED Macbook. Sony would make a killing, but they put their heads so far up their butts’ years ago that it will never happen.
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Anyone with $4000 to shell out and a hankering for a new laptop should take note of this beautiful new notebook from HP and Maybach. Though it does come after Ferrari and Lamborghini made laptops with Asus and Acer, the Maybach laptop seems to be a whole new ball game. Equipped with what looks like a snakeskin leather trim and a Maybach logo on the front, this notebook truly is feature rich. It comes with Intel Core 2 Duo, built-in SSD-storage of 64GB (yes, solid state), and sensory buttons with ambient lighting.
Worth the money? Far from it, but elitists can still pick one up if they choose to do so. Expect a limited-run from HP before they realize no one cares.
Maybach notebook – HP Maybach ns42 [New Launches]
SanDisk feels it’s ready to take on the mobile PC market with its first solid-state hard drive. The SSD Ultra ATA 5000 1.8-inch hard drive comes in a 32GB size and can boot Windows Vista Enterprise in under 35 seconds. This drive is being touted for its speed, thanks to solid-state memory instead of moving parts like a conventional hard drive.
The geeky-goo from the press release:
”
With no moving parts, SanDisk SSD does not need to spin up into action or to seek files in the way that conventional hard disk drives do – enabling SanDisk SSD to work much faster. SanDisk SSD Ultra ATA 5000 achieves a sustained read rate of 62-megabyte (MB)*/sec and a random read rate of 7300 inputs/outputs per second (IOPS) for a 512-byte transfer – more than 100 times better than any hard disk drive.
These performance figures boost system performance. For instance, SanDisk SSD UATA 5000 can boot Microsoft Windows® Vista™ Enterprise on a laptop in as little as 35 seconds. SanDisk SSD achieves an average file access rate of 0.12 milliseconds.** On Windows Experience Index for Microsoft® Vista™, SanDisk SSD scores 5.4 out of a total 5.9, whereas a hard disk drive scores 3.7 on the same test inside the same laptop.***
“
Oh, and your laptop will get a longer battery life if you slap one of these SSD Ultra drives into it. This drive only uses 0.4W while active as opposed to 1.0W on standard hard disks. Less power consumed means more juice. Everybody wins. No word yet on how much this’ll cost or when bigger sizes will become available.
Official Site [SanDisk]
