Samsung Introduces mini-card SSD For Netbooks
Facts are facts, and while one may have assumed the netbook was just a fad, it's now clear that the sector is strong. To that end, Samsung is making sure it's not going to miss out on the growth, this week announcing that it is sampling a SATA-interface mini-card solid state drive (SSD) with some of its customers. Not surprisingly, the company has made clear that this is "for use in the expanding netbook marketplace."
The Samsung SATA mini-card SSD expands the use of SSDs from not only being a primary storage medium, but also as a complementary drive to boost the performance of PCs with dual drive capabilities. Jim Elliott, vice president, memory marketing, Samsung Semiconductor, Inc, accurately notes that "the market is beginning to embrace a smaller SSD for the nascent netbook sector," and he continued by remarking that the "cost-efficiency and reliability of lower-density, highly compact Samsung SSDs are perfectly suited as the storage medium for the rapidly growing netbook marketplace."
The card boasts a mini-PCI Express (PCIe) form factor with a SATA 3.0Gb/s interface, and it's 80% smaller than a standard 2.5" HDD. Obviously, this bodes well for fitting in small netbooks, UMPCs, etc. Available in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB densities, the new SSD drive will be produced using 40-nanometer-class process technology, and according to Samsung, it features a sequential read rate of 200MB/s (megabytes per second) and writes data sequentially at 100MB/s. The drive weighs up to 8.5g and measures up to 3.75 millimeters thick, and it consumes a meager 0.3 watts of power. There is no mention of price just yet, but hopefully they'll be priced for the budgets of netbook buyers.
The Samsung SATA mini-card SSD expands the use of SSDs from not only being a primary storage medium, but also as a complementary drive to boost the performance of PCs with dual drive capabilities. Jim Elliott, vice president, memory marketing, Samsung Semiconductor, Inc, accurately notes that "the market is beginning to embrace a smaller SSD for the nascent netbook sector," and he continued by remarking that the "cost-efficiency and reliability of lower-density, highly compact Samsung SSDs are perfectly suited as the storage medium for the rapidly growing netbook marketplace."
The card boasts a mini-PCI Express (PCIe) form factor with a SATA 3.0Gb/s interface, and it's 80% smaller than a standard 2.5" HDD. Obviously, this bodes well for fitting in small netbooks, UMPCs, etc. Available in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB densities, the new SSD drive will be produced using 40-nanometer-class process technology, and according to Samsung, it features a sequential read rate of 200MB/s (megabytes per second) and writes data sequentially at 100MB/s. The drive weighs up to 8.5g and measures up to 3.75 millimeters thick, and it consumes a meager 0.3 watts of power. There is no mention of price just yet, but hopefully they'll be priced for the budgets of netbook buyers.
