Milipitas, Calif. — San Disk has introduced a 32GB solid state drive (SSD) for the portable computer market as a replacement for a mainstream notebook’s traditional hard drive.
The 2.5-inch SSD is SanDisk’s second SSD following the release two months ago of a 1.8-inch version for the ultra-portable notebook market. The 2.5-inch version is now available to vendors as a drop-in replacement for hard disk drives, the company said. Pricing is set at $350 per unit when purchased in bulk.
To help offset the price advantage held by conventional rotating drives, the SSDs are more reliable, going 2 million hours between failures, allowing for faster boot time and data transfer speeds in the 67MBps range, SanDisk said. The company reported an SSD-equipped notebook can boot Windows Vista in about 20 seconds.
An SSD also uses less battery power since it lacks any moving parts. A standard hard drive spins at rates between 5,400 rpm and 7,200 rpm. The computer also operates at a cooler temperature, increasing the unit’s overall longevity.
