[shuttertalk]

Now this is very interesting indeed - SanDisk have launched 2.5-inch hard disks that use the same solid state technology as memory cards, with no moving parts, as opposed to the traditional spinning hard disks. 2.5-inch drives are commonly used in Notebook computers, which would benefit from the fact that they generate much less heat and power requirements as well.

But the most impressive aspect is performance:

In notebook computers, data moves to and from an SSD more than 100 times faster than data moving to and from a hard disk. SanDisk SSDs offer a sustained read rate of 67 megabytes (MB) per second3 and a random read rate of 7,000 inputs/outputs per second (IOPS) for a 512-byte transfer4. As a result, notebooks equipped with a 2.5-inch SanDisk SSD can boot Microsoft® Windows® Vista™ Enterprise in as little as 30 seconds5 and access files at an average speed of 0.11 milliseconds6. A notebook using a hard disk requires an average 48 seconds to boot and an average 17 milliseconds to access files.

In terms of pricing, availability, etc. - "The 32GB, 2.5-inch SanDisk SSD is available now to computer manufacturers, with initial pricing of $350 for large volume orders."

It always excites me when manufacturers go out on a limb to push the boundaries of technology, and take good ideas to produce useful products. Hopefully we'll be seeing laptop computers with these drives soon...

http://dpnow.com/3715.html

[thanks dpnow]

[Toad]

Cool! I want some...

[Wedding Shooter]

Very cool.