They tested seven 2.5-inch 128GB SSDs with SATA that ranged in price between $200 and $450. In the end the OCZ Vertex came out on top in terms of overall performance, but the Kingston SSDNow V-Series held its own with a "budget" price tag of $249. Hit up Laptop Mag for the full breakdown. [LaptopMag]

Clickfree has also released the DVD Transformer ($40), which plugs in like a standard USB drive, but automatically scans your computer for personal files and other important data then backs it up on CD or DVD. [Clickfree via CNET and Slashgear]

Unlike other SSDs, the X1 utilizes two types of memory—4GB DRAM and 4GB NAND aligned on a PCIe card. Because RAM can be volatile, the NAND kicks in and safely backs up the information. According to a PC Perspective review, the drive features "single sector IOPS (input/output operations per second) unmatched by any other device available" and has the benefit of a IOPS cost that is about 1/5 of the io-Drive.

So, essentially you are getting a lot of bang for your buck here—but at the end of the day you are still talking $1495 for a drive with 4GB capacity. Obviously, that means the majority of us will have to wait a while longer to experience this kind of performance. [DDRdrive and CNET and PC Perspective]

Fusion-io has also blown the slot capacity of their previous model out of the water with versions of the PCI Express Duo available in 160GB, 320GB, 640GB and 1.28TB sizes. Three of the four versions will be available starting in April with the 1.28GB version slated for the second half of 2009. If you are wondering how much it will cost, that probably means you cant afford it. Specifics have not been made available, but we are talking tens of thousands of dollars on the high end here.

If you recognize Fusion-io, it's the company Woz just joined as Chief Scientist. Since he just joined, we doubt he had anything to do with the ioDrive's inception and production, but he'll most likely have a hand in doing their upcoming products. [Fusion-io via Hot Hardware]

Some background info. First, sector remapping—a custom solution from Intel— is a method that makes sure wear and tear on the drive is spread over the entire space instead of just in a small area (which would cause the drive to fail earlier). Intel's algorithm unfortunately makes files become fragmented eventually, and defragmenting software currently on the market just screw things up further.

Intel says it's working on a solution, but currently customers with the X25-M can only completely wipe the drive and start fresh in order to reclaim that lost performance. It's not a death knell to SSDs, since the problem can (theoretically) be fixed by either allowing defragmentation software access to the distribution algorithm so as to actually defragment, or having the SSD controller keep track of the fragmentation in the first place and try and minimize it. [PC Per via Ars Technica]

As JKOnTheRun points out, these are not the blazing-est SSDs you'll find (they're rated at 90 MB/s read and 55 MB/s write), but for $169 it's not a bad boost for your S101's paltry 16GB drive. [Super Talent via JKOnTheRun]

To put it into perspective, that's nearly 2x the read speed of Intel's already fast SSDs, and roughly 5x the write speed. The ioDrive uses the same NAND flash memory of an SSD, but since it plugs in to a PCI Express bus rather than SATA and only works with 64-bit systems, it can achieve speeds nothing else can touch. And yes, here we are talking megaBYTEs, not megaBITs—a lower metric often used for data transmission speeds.

For now it's for enterprise stuff exlusively—an 80GB version will set you back $3,000, on up to $14,400 for 320GB. If you are interested in this kind of thing, the boys at Tweaktown have written a ten pager on it. [Tweaktown via BBG]

UPDATE: Hot Hardware has gotten their hands on one and given it a full top-to-bottom run-through for more specs and shots. Thanks, YasinKhawam

Intel Introduces Solid-State Drives for Notebook and Desktop Computers

New Intel(R) High-Performance SATA Solid-State Drive Offers Users Responsive, Rugged, Reliable and Low-Power Storage Solution to Replace Hard Disk Drive
SANTA CLARA, Calif. —(Business Wire)— Sep. 8, 2008 Intel Corporation announced today it has begun shipping Intel(R) X18-M and X25-M Mainstream SATA Solid-State Drives (SSDs) based on multi-level cell (MLC) NAND flash technology for laptop and desktop computers. The new high-performing data storage devices give computer buyers a new level of system responsiveness in a lightweight, rugged, low-power package that can replace traditional hard disk drives.

Validated for Intel-based computers, the X18-M is a 1.8-inch drive and the X25-M a 2.5-inch drive, offering several advantages over hard drives including faster overall system response, boot and resume times. With no moving parts, SSDs run cooler and quieter and are a more reliable option than hard drives. In addition, SSDs remove input/output (I/O) performance bottlenecks associated with hard disk drives that help maximize the efficiency of Intel processors, such as the company's Core(TM) family of products. For example, lab tests show that the Intel X18-M and X25M increase storage system performance nine times over traditional hard disk drive performance.

"Validated by our rigorous testing and OEM customer feedback, we believe that we have developed an SSD that delivers on the promises of SSD computing," said Randy Wilhelm, Intel vice president and general manager of the NAND Products Group. "By combining our experience in flash memory design with our processor and computing expertise, we have added advances such as our parallel 10-channel architecture, proprietary controller, firmware and memory management algorithms that address write amplification and wear leveling issues to redefine SSD performance and reliability for computing platforms."

The Intel X18-M and X25-M Mainstream SATA SSDs are available in 80 gigabyte (GB) capacities, with 160GB versions sampling in the fourth quarter of this year. The 80GB drive achieves up to 250MB per second read speeds, up to 70MB per second write speeds and 85-microsecond read latency for fast performance. The 80GB version is priced at $595 for quantities up to 1,000. These SSDs are available now and end-customer products containing the Intel(R) High-Performance SATA SSDs are expected to begin shipping in the next few weeks.

The company is also expected to introduce a line of single-level cell (SLC) SSDs for the server, storage and enterprise environments within the next 90 days. Called the Intel(R) X25-E Extreme SATA Solid-State Drive, these products are designed to maximize the Input/Output Operations Per Second (IOPS), which equates to higher performance and lower enterprise costs. Since SSDs lower energy consumption, maintenance, cooling and space costs, an SSD-based data center will reduce overall infrastructure costs while increasing performance-per-square-foot by as much as 50x.

Micron's P200 RealSSD drives will use single-level cell technology for the Enterprise market, and the C200 versions use multi-level cell tech for the home PC market. The P200 will be available in 16GB to 128GB sizes in a 2.5-inch form factor, while the C200 will come in a 2.5-inch format up to 256GB. Clearly aiming at the UMPC market, the C200 will also come in a 1.8-inch drive with up to 128GB capacity. The drives peak read speed is that impressive-sounding 250MBps, with a write speed of 100MBps. They'll operate at around 0.3 to 2.5 W, and be SATA compatible.

Micron claims the usual power consumption benefits, and that the drives are "10 times faster at accessing transactional data" compared to HDDs. The drives will ship in the fourth quarter of this year, price to be decided. [PC Watch]

SanDisk's chairman and CEO follows up with "performance in the Vista environment falls short of what the market really needs and that is why we need to develop the next generation." Seriously though, if this is true, we hope Windows 7 solves these issues so we can finally get some flash action up in our laptops. Then again, it could just be SanDisk covering up their own failure to get products to market with some finger pointing. [CNET]

They took a Gateway T-6828 with Vista Home Premium SP1 and tried it with its native Western Digital Scorpio WD2500BEVS and two SSDs: a Samsung SATA II 64GB, and a SanDisk SATA 5000 32GB.

And guess what? Both SSD's resulted in an extra 10 minutes of battery life, versus the native hard drive. That's not a huge difference, sure, but it's a completely different story to the Tom's Hardware study which showed worse battery performance.

Laptopmag admits that the absolute hardware choices both studies make may have a large impact, but they conclude "in real-world use, SSDs offer a small improvement in battery life." And, of course, there's the potentially faster loading times you get from SSD's, meaning your laptop's uptime may be more productive. [Laptopmag]

While moving hard drives have higher power requirements on paper, in reality, those peaks are only reached when random data is being searched out. On average, these drives have become very power efficient and rarely peak even when data is being accessed.

SSDs, on the other hand, pretty much have an "on" mode and an "off" mode. That's it. So while you are using your hard drive, that mode is pretty much always going to be the "on" one. SSD manufacturers haven't focused on other power saving principles at this time. And until they do, don't expect things to get any better.

Note: the benchmarks were all completed on the same Dell laptop. A 5400 RPM hard drive would have even lower power consumption than the 7200 RPM model tested.


As for buying that new SSD for your notebook...I'd suggest you wait a bit longer, even if you have the cash. [Tom's Hardware via Crunchgear]

Ridata Ramps Up 2.5" SATA SSD Read Speed to Sizzling 300MBPS

Read: Up to 170MB/per sec.; Write: Up to 105MB/per sec.

Available in Up to 128GB Capacity

Diamond Bar, Calif.—Jan. 07, 2008 —Advanced Media, Inc., manufacturer and marketer of the popular Ridata brand of recordable CD and DVD media, electronic storage products, and digital media accessories, announced the introduction of a non-volatile 2.5" SATA Solid State Disk (SSD) that truly burst reads at an amazing rate of 300MB per second. The faster speed Serial ATA (SATA) drive is available in 32GB, 64GB and 128GB capacities.

"SSD drives offer a host of benefits over traditional hard disk drives. Cool and silent running; fast data access times; dependability and resistance to harsh environments make SSD drives a serious contender for virtually replacing Hard Disc Drives," remarked Harvey Liu, Advanced Media President. "The read rate of our 2.5" SATA SSD drive provides users with a phenomenally fast speed. For instance, it reduces boot up and seek times to mere seconds, while installation of new software programs can be accomplished in seconds rather than minutes."

Data Integrity
The Ridata SSD drive is inherently resistant to vibration, shock, and temperature extremes. It is very reliable with more than 4,000,000 hours Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF). Data integrity is further supported by static wearing leveling and Reed-Solomon ECC(RS-ECC 6/8/10 symbols). With a SMART features and write endurance cycle (P/E) of more than 2,000,000 times, the Ridata SSD drive is built to securely write and store critical data.

NAND Flash Technology

The Ridata 2.5" SATA SSD drive is a cutting-edge solid-state flash disk, based on NAND flash technology. It has no moving parts, which allows it to be virtually silent, run cooler, and use less power than a traditional hard disk drive. It is NAND technology that provides the drive's data transfer rates of up to 170MB per second for maximum sequential read.

Using single-level-chip technology, the Ridata SSD drive provides consistent performance, handles operating temperature up to 85˚F, and has extremely low-power consumption in comparison to a traditional hard drive. The Ridata SSD is among the lightest-weight storage drives available. It is excellent for performance-driven and rugged environments, such as laptops, and industrial, professional, and military applications.

Performance

The drive requires only a five-volt power supply. Because of its low-power consumption, user time on a laptop or other mobile computing application is dramatically extended. Having no mechanical parts, low power consumption, and minimal heat generation, the Ridata SSD drive is a natural alternative for a greener environment.

Mechanical
Meeting bus interface industry standard Serial ATA (SATA) ensures there are no host compatibility or upgrading issues. The Ridata drive offers reliable temperature (0 to 70C) and humidity resistance, assuring long-lasting data storage. The 2.5" drives weighs 64.5 grams with dimensions of 101.85 x 69.85 x 9mm.

Availability

The Ridata burst read up to 300MB/ps and up to 170MB sequential read transfer rate 2.5" SATA - as well as its 1.8" IDE - based SSD cards are available through system integrators, selected retailers, and Ridata distributors. Visit www.ritekusa.com for more information.

About Advanced Media (RITEK USA)

Advanced Media, Inc. is a subsidiary of RITEK Corporation, the world's largest optical media manufacturer. Advanced Media is the sole North and South American marketer and distributor of the RIDATA brand of recordable CD and DVD media as well as other types of electronic storage media. , Since its formation in 2001, Advanced Media has experienced phenomenal annual growth and is already a leading marketer of electronic storage products in the American market.

The Ridata brand offers an extensive line of flash memory products including the cutting edge Solid State Drive (SSD) Series and up to 16GB 266X CF Cards. The brand also features USB EZ Drives including the award-winning Yego USB Hub drive and other USB drives such as the Twister USB drive. Ridata's cornerstone products include Blu-Ray DVD series, HD DVD series, DL DVD-R/+R, DVD+/-R/RW, and CD-R/RW

RITEK for years has been defining and redefining the optical storage market. Around the world, its name is synonymous with innovation, quality, and unparalleled consistency. Its ISO 14001, ISO 9001, ISO 9002, OHSAS 18001, and Green mark certification from the EPA prove RITEK's commitment to quality control.

SSDs have no moving parts, so seek time is drastically reduced. No spinning=less battery vampirage, so your laptop lasts longer too. And finally, the lack of a deadly read-write head means you can drop your SSD-powered lappy with far less chance of weeping. Right now, SSDs are usually made with either SDRAM (like RAM used in computers) or NAND flash (like in thumb drives, iPod nanos, etc.). Flash is more common, since it doesn't need a battery even though it's slower. Problems: Gig for gig, SSD is way expensive. The beefiest you'll be able to get soon is 128GB (or maybe 256GB)—but the current 64GB 2.5" SSDs go for $1,100 and up. Still got questions?

The design uses a SATA interface and is only 4 mm thick. Micron claims the advantages of such a design are the small size and the ability to line up multiple drives next to each other. In addition, this design requires no wires or attaching the motherboard with screws, reducing the risk of the SSD becoming disconnnected or loose inside a computer. While this product is nowhere near ready for market, Micron says they would need to work with an OEM or someone who can offer a compatible computer solution. [Micron]

The 32GB drive will come in 1.8" and 2.5" sizes, while the 64GB will only ship in a 2.5" size. Micron, who also owns memory makers Lexar and Crucial, will release an SSD USB enclosement under the Crucial brand, making SSD expansion easier for users. Micron also expressed an interest in making a 128GB SSD, but have no definite plans as of yet. Pricing is still undetermined on the 32GB and 64GB models, but Micron expects the products to ship in Q1 2008. [Micron]

SAMSUNG Mass Producing Industry's First 1.8-inch, 64GB Solid State Drive, Targeted for Notebook PCs [Press Release]

First, SanDisk announced their 1.8-inch 64GB UATA 5000 and 2.5-inch 64GB SATA 5000 SSDs. Not too shabby. Then PNY went ahead and busted out their 2.5-inch 128GB SSD, which is even better. Neither company has touched PQI's insane 256GB 2.5-inch SSD, but that thing is going to cost the price of a small island, so what we're really seeing at this point is a race to reasonable prices.

With bigger SSDs coming out for less and less every day (although none of the above mentioned products have price tags as of yet), it's only a matter of months until we start seeing the transition to SSD laptops start in full effect. Get excited. –Adam Frucci

PNY and SanDisk [via CrunchGear]

Curiously, they don't state the reason for the shortage (they could be inflating their own chests) although a safe assumption is the demand for high-capacity 4GB and 8GB gadgets, like MP3 players and music-playing cell phones. So the bad new is it looks like flash memory prices are gonna go up. – Louis Ramirez

Samsung Raises Alarm About Flash Shortage [The Inquirer]

Fujitsu LifeBook B6210 and P1610 Go Flash [Laptop]

Seems like just yesterday SanDisk rolled out its $600 1.8-inch 32GB SSD (it was in early January), but this 2.5-inch form factor is significant because it fits right in where more of those spinning hard drives have been firmly ensconced for the past few years. It's a drop-in replacement Serial ATA (SATA) drive, and at these prices, it looks like the revolution moving away from moving parts is well underway. – Charlie White

SanDisk introduce 32GB 2.5" Solid State Disk [Tracy and Matt's Blog]

The biggest unanswered question: How much will it cost? Anybody have a guess? Take a look at another pic of the other side of this drive:

A-Data's not the only one building drives like this, we can just smell it. It won't be long before all disks will be made this way, and not a moment too soon! – Charlie White

A-DATA to present its 2.5 inch 128GB SSD [AVing USA]