In the wake of Sandisk's solid state breakthrough at this year's CES trade show in Las Vegas, the company has announced a 32GB 2.5" SSD (solid state disk) that representatives described as a 'drop in' replacement for mechanical 2.5" notebook drives used in the majority of notebooks on the market these days.
The drive uses a SATA interface and uses 16 NAND flash chips to reach its 32GB capacity. It also boasts read speeds in excess of 65MB/sec, according to the firm - this is higher than we've seen from previous SSDs we've seen.
The benefits of solid state are massive, especially in the notebook market. It takes durability into another dimension because there are no moving parts in the device. In addition, the lack of moving parts means that seek time is instantanious and battery life is also improved too.
However, while this is an exciting progression in the solid state market, there is unfortunately a downside: cost.
Currently, Sandisk is expecting the drive to hit the market at around £200 (inc VAT) for the 32GB model. For comparison, you can pick up a 40GB 2.5" drive for as little as £30 (inc VAT).
Obviously, it's going to take some time for the cost of SSDs to drop down to the same level as their mechanical equivalents, but there are plenty of benefits for those that do fancy making the jump.
For those worried about the longevity of data on solid state drives, Sandisk claims that the drive is capable of reading and writing around 100GB of data every day for five years - that should be more than enough for even the most extravagant users. To back up this claim, the company will sell the drive with a five year warranty. We don't have any details on when it's due to hit the market just yet - we'll let you know as soon as we find out.
Discuss in the forums
The drive uses a SATA interface and uses 16 NAND flash chips to reach its 32GB capacity. It also boasts read speeds in excess of 65MB/sec, according to the firm - this is higher than we've seen from previous SSDs we've seen.
The benefits of solid state are massive, especially in the notebook market. It takes durability into another dimension because there are no moving parts in the device. In addition, the lack of moving parts means that seek time is instantanious and battery life is also improved too.
However, while this is an exciting progression in the solid state market, there is unfortunately a downside: cost.
Currently, Sandisk is expecting the drive to hit the market at around £200 (inc VAT) for the 32GB model. For comparison, you can pick up a 40GB 2.5" drive for as little as £30 (inc VAT).
Obviously, it's going to take some time for the cost of SSDs to drop down to the same level as their mechanical equivalents, but there are plenty of benefits for those that do fancy making the jump.
For those worried about the longevity of data on solid state drives, Sandisk claims that the drive is capable of reading and writing around 100GB of data every day for five years - that should be more than enough for even the most extravagant users. To back up this claim, the company will sell the drive with a five year warranty. We don't have any details on when it's due to hit the market just yet - we'll let you know as soon as we find out.
Discuss in the forums
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