The 32-gigabyte NAND flash-based solid state disk (SSD) can upload and download data quickly and quietly as it uses instantly-accessible static NAND flash memory instead of the rotating discs found in hard drives.
SSD weighs only half as much as a hard drive, reads data three times faster and writes data 1.5 times quicker, it said. It consumes a mere five percent of the electricity needed to power a hard disk drive and operates silently as it requires no motor or any other noise-making parts.
Samsung unveiled a landmark laptop installed with SSD at its annual Mobile Solution Forum that took place in Taipei on Tuesday, the company said.
It marked the first time that NAND flash chips, which are usually used in small devices such as digital cameras and MP3 players, have been applied to a mobile computer, it added.
Bigger is always better. Right?
Maybe they’ve came up with better techology, but I thought that flash drives could only be written over a set number of times before they died. I would guess that running an OS with a swap file on it would kill one pretty quickly.
Steve:
You’re right, you would generally not want to run the swap file in the Flash memory. However, put enough regular old RAM and you don’t need a swap file.
But for a hard disk replacement, the million+ writes the flash will take should be more than enough for the majority of laptop users. Just put good error detection/correction on it, and throw it out when it fails.
Gee… i think I’ll have to go find my ISA bubble memory card to remember the bad old days.
Well, another Piece falls into place on the scenario I was talking about last week with regards to online spreadsheets.
Fred Langa over at http://www.langa.com was showing a couple weeks ago how to make a bootable Windows with BartPE and a USB Drive
Put Windows and your apps on this drive, use Ram for swap and whamo, you are all set
One question, tho? I wonder when Motherboard Manufacturers will start putting Flash Memory Modules integrated on their boards
Will all this help toward John’s longtime goal of Instant-On Computers?
Just thinking out loud
Al
I had an OLD Bubble memory PDA.. Just the numbers and a few names.. 32k..Gave it to my father.
After storing it for 5 years, he placed a battery into it, and ALL the numbers came up.
The problems come under the idea that its ALWAYS being changed..
Be neet if the Win OS didnt change ALL the time. could burn it to a Chip and have it load each time.
But considering that ALOT of HD can only read/write to ANY BITE, 100,000,000 times without FAILURE…What do you think is happening to your DRIVE right now.
There have been flash drives as big as 100 Gig out for some time now (www.bitmicro.com) . They’re just too expensive thus making them only usable for non commercial purposes like the aerospace and military industries.
wahoooo!!!!! it’s about time!!
If I could bend the course of evolution I’d head it to where everything resides on a flash (or some derivative thereof) drive and all we would do is plug into a monitor and go. Advancing beyond that point we could do away with the monitor and input devices all together and employ interactive holographics. Sounds cool to me.
My ultimate dream has always been a laptop with no moving parts. Mostly so I could war drive from a little kawasaki dirtbike or the like. But like a few people have said already, flash memory cost nearly three times as much as HDD memory. Perhaps that’s changed….
This is cool, but I don’t see it as a big deal. The technology has existed for a while, just a matter of doing it.
If it’s cheaper per GB than a physical drive it will really take off….
I kinda hope not though since I work for a company that builds hard disk drives . . . . .
Like all memory, be it ram, HD or flash, prices have been falling very quickly as the reliability goes up. In January, 1999, I bought an eight meg SmartMedia card for about $60. In the summer of 2002, I bought a 128 meg SmartMedia card for $70. Then just three months ago I bought a 512 meg Compact Flash for $49. A quick check at Amazon shows Compact Flash 1 gig for under $60.
How, I don’t know, but in the near future I predict that all memory will be solid state. No moving parts to wear out. No power draining motors. No noise. Just memory.
This is great! It will also bring back a sense of storage conservation a la DOS days. That means data becomes more meaningful. Instead of saving 1000 jpegs, you’ll have to choose 100 out of those to leave space on the drive for other things. The speed is worth it.
Depends the price of it. It costs 500$ now, and 200$ in 2008. That’s too expensive I think.
How much does the drive cost? No one says, so its got to be pretty ridiculous – As to the prediction that all memory will be solid state – not for a while – disks will be cheaper per gig for years (probably untill talking about the disk being cheaper per gig sounds completly archaic), which will keep them dominent on the market.
Bruce, I’ll keep an eye open for the price. Remember, though, this ain’t IBM or Microsoft. Samsung is in the business of showing off hardware they expect to sell — and they are one of the biggest in NAND in the world.
I think this could be a big breakthrough for the portable market. Huge storage isn’t a big deal for the average portable user but huge battery life is.
This would make a lot of sense for a lot of traveling noteboolks when paired with a large external hard drive you would keep permanently at your home/office. The SSD could be smaller than 32GB, and therefore much cheaper.
I agree with Milo and Dave – I still think the things’ll be blasted expensive though – I’d guess in the ballpark of $1000 CDN (US shouldn’t be much different), based on the price of flash memory, and thus limited to people who need the extra battery life extremely badly.
The cost of LSI (Lotsa Silicon Inside) eventually reaches the price of sand – in ten years it will be hard to find a laptop with rotating media.