We got a chance to sit down with Sandisk on Tuesday, and had a real treat. Aside from the usual releases of audio/video products and further information of the new Sansa items, I got to hear about the company's latest accomplishment - a totally Flash-based HDD.
The drive, whose technology is dubbed SSD, is currently at 32GB - though there have been working prototypes that even surpassed 350GB (not in the actual 1.8" form-factor, though!). The drive is UATA compatible, so it will run within current notebooks without any trouble. By switching to Flash-based storage, a laptop will now have a lot more durability for its data and a much longer battery life. In fact, not having to drive the HDD could nearly cut power usage in half!
Unfortunately, we won't be seeing these in the retail sector just yet. First up on the list of purchasers is a wealth of OEM laptop makers, who will be very interested in the power conservation aspect of the new drive. Though Sandisk was not able to tell us who would be coming out with them first, it's pretty easy to assume there are a group of companies who would want them.
Though hybrid drives will likely be more useful for desktop applications, the solid-state storage of Flash will greatly help the lower-powered laptop sector. Prices could increase the cost of the laptops by up to $600 USD (very roughly estimated), so the security and battery life are far from free. However, as with all things, this technology will likely make its way down the price ladder and up in capacity very quickly.
We'll be looking forward to seeing it develop now that it's no longer just a proof of concept. How about you? Let us know in our forums.
The drive, whose technology is dubbed SSD, is currently at 32GB - though there have been working prototypes that even surpassed 350GB (not in the actual 1.8" form-factor, though!). The drive is UATA compatible, so it will run within current notebooks without any trouble. By switching to Flash-based storage, a laptop will now have a lot more durability for its data and a much longer battery life. In fact, not having to drive the HDD could nearly cut power usage in half!
Unfortunately, we won't be seeing these in the retail sector just yet. First up on the list of purchasers is a wealth of OEM laptop makers, who will be very interested in the power conservation aspect of the new drive. Though Sandisk was not able to tell us who would be coming out with them first, it's pretty easy to assume there are a group of companies who would want them.
Though hybrid drives will likely be more useful for desktop applications, the solid-state storage of Flash will greatly help the lower-powered laptop sector. Prices could increase the cost of the laptops by up to $600 USD (very roughly estimated), so the security and battery life are far from free. However, as with all things, this technology will likely make its way down the price ladder and up in capacity very quickly.
We'll be looking forward to seeing it develop now that it's no longer just a proof of concept. How about you? Let us know in our forums.
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