SanDisk debuts next-gen solid-state drives

 

Gallery

By Stuart Turton

Posted on 2 Jun 2009 at 10:25

SanDisk has begun targeting netbooks with its new solid-state disks, which it claims are almost nine times as fast as the old models.

SanDisk's pSSD P2 and pSSD S2 drives use a new technology called nCache, which stores writes to nonvolatile NAND flash rather than DRAM, waiting for the drive to hit an idle state before the writes are laid down.

According to SanDisk, the new technology is far more efficient, allowing for sustained read/write rates of about 70MB/sec. That's twice as fast as a standard 5,400RPM hard disk, but using around half the power.

These power savings are crucial, it argues, as device makers look to keep the power draw of components down in order to offer the holy grail of all day battery life. This effort has already seen Intel offer a new ultra-low power Pentium processor, and Qualcomm unveil the next generation of its Snapdragon platform at Computex.

These drives will ship in 8GB, 16GB, 32GB and 64GB capacities, with prices beginning at $40.

It's no wonder that SanDisk is targeting the netbook market. Analyst firm IDC says it expects netbook sales to quadruple to 50 million units in 2013 from 11.5 million in 2008.