Live from CeBIT: Hands-on with the Samsung Q30 with solid-state disk

Things are drawing to a close (for us) here at CeBIT. However, we just couldn't pass up the chance to run our fingers over that modded, Samsung Q30 laptop which tosses out the traditional hard disk drive (and fan) in favor of a solid-state disk (SSD) throwing down 32 mad GBs of heat and vibration-free storage. After all, it's not everyday we get to hold a silent, 2.5-pounds light, 0.7-inch thin, laptop with 12.1-inch display in our mits. Click on for a few shots including the SSD nekkid, next to its mechanical brethren.

Held comfortably in one hand -- hardly any torque on the wrist.

Yeah, we know, it says 16GB...must have plugged all the thirty-two's into the prototypes.

[Paul Phoenix @ Mar 13th 2006 8:24AM]

Who do I kill for that laptop?!? (even tho it's pink!!)

[Frank @ Mar 13th 2006 8:32AM]

GREAT!
Finally we're able to ditch those harddrives!
This will be the standard from now on.

[Frank @ Mar 13th 2006 8:49AM]

It's good that its out there its going to be a long time before its affordable though

[Pip @ Mar 13th 2006 9:25AM]

Now THIS is the kind of stuff we need to see more of! Forget the whole Origami crud, solid state drives is what we've been waiting for, forever!

Hot DAMN! I'm surprised Apple hasn't release a laptop with this yet.

[Roger Badger @ Mar 13th 2006 9:35AM]

Cannot see HDDs disappearing anytime soon. The long range forecasts for cost per GB show that the difference between SSD and HDD means solid state won't catch on for a decade or so.
Need a laptop drive. Which would you choose? A Samsung 32GB SSD or Seagate 160GB HDD?
SDD nekkid? Nice toy or gimmick, but that is all it is.

[loyukfai @ Mar 13th 2006 10:04AM]

We may see hybird flash+disks HDD becoming more common in the near future.

BTW, how about those write cycle limits for flash memory?

[AppTechie @ Mar 13th 2006 11:27AM]

Fortunately, SSD and Flash memory are very different. SSDs have been around for an eternity...yet we still can't get 'em cheap due to the US Military using them in EVERY mission critical application. Frankly, if I have to go another couple years without SSDs so that our military can have them...I'm alright with that...

[Marc B. @ Mar 13th 2006 11:29AM]

Flash memory prices are dropping really fast, so this may not be too far off. 32GB is plenty for aplications and work data. You can keep all your other stuff on an external disk and burned dvds if you need more space. This rocks.

[Ted @ Mar 13th 2006 11:53AM]

"Fortunately, SSD and Flash memory are very different."

Actually, according to Wikipedia, they are one and the same - SSD's are often implemented using flash roms - probably of the cheaper and more reliable NAND variety.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid_state_disk

[Shawn @ Mar 13th 2006 12:13PM]

I, as many of you, have been dreaming of a solid state laptop for many years. Dispite this dream i am willing to comprimise the size of the HD... sure you can get 160 Gig HDs and all that but do you really need that for practical use of a laptop? I would use a 16 Gig Laptop with an external drive or have a network drive somewhere in the house to hold all my media files.

We are at the point where we have amazing capabilities with technology. I, for one, think that we have to stop trying to create a 100% all in one product. There are some things that make sense to keep seperate. Like media files. what if that laptop is lost or broken...

Any way thanks to all the folks at engadget for this coverage. I would love to see some pricing and the full specs on this machine.

[Adam @ Mar 13th 2006 12:18PM]

Actually I'd prefer to have a 32 GB SSD. If you wanna know the truth, I come from the old skool, where I own both a laptop and a desktop. Applications have become enormous, and computing requirements are ridiculous now.

I just want the lightest possible laptop, slap on the lightest version of Linux I can find, and leave the REAL grunt disc and processor work to a desktop. I think SSD devices will quickly take a place.

Course, keep in mind, I'm still lugging my 5 lb iBook with a 10 Gig HDD in it, so maybe I'm a bit biased...

[Simon Potter @ Mar 13th 2006 12:56PM]

does this thing have a cd/dvd drive in it? the ssd is nice and all, but i still want to use media, especially in a laptop.

[MotoMike @ Mar 13th 2006 2:00PM]

Damn this looks so good, can't wait. I will definately spend the extra $$$ for something that small and lite. I wonder what the battery life is like, maybe triple that of a comparable hdd notebook. The future is now and I want to get on board. 32gb is more than enough space for a notebook and if you need more space than an external usb hdd will suffice. Currently I am using an IBM Thinkpad X31 which comes close to this.

[MotoMike @ Mar 13th 2006 2:10PM]

Samsung SSD memory
Free of moving parts, the Samsung SSD memory has minimal noise and heat emission. Moreover, it is a highly reliable storage media that endures exceptionally well in environments with extreme temperatures and humidity, making it suited for industrial and military applications. The Solid State Disks performance rate exceeds that of a comparably sized HDD by more than 150 percent. The storage disk reads data at 57 MegaBytes per second (MBps) and writes it at 32MBps.

[minik @ Mar 13th 2006 2:24PM]

I just recently upgraded my dell laptop to 40GB, I got by fine with a 20GB, the only reason I upgraded is because the original drive died and 40GB was affordable. I would easily choose ssd if it's 100x faster then an HDD (according to http://notebooks.consumerelectronicsnet.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=33603-1 )

[Heath @ Mar 13th 2006 2:31PM]

I'm loving this idea but who's got the rundown on what happens with a power surge?

Wouldn't that wipe it?

[Lan @ Mar 13th 2006 5:22PM]

I thought flash memory was non-volatile, and not prone to loss due to power fluctuations. But maybe that's just flash memory cards...I'm not quite sure.

[James @ Mar 13th 2006 9:58PM]

"Hot DAMN! I'm surprised Apple hasn't release a laptop with this yet."

why would they? they aren't innovators anyway.

[Rav @ Mar 13th 2006 10:01PM]

So would a SSD drive come on the market that could have an integrated IDE controller/converter?? that would replace my spinning HDD? Since solid state memory prices are 'slowly' coming down this would be a good replacement option for the zillion laptops already on the market with good old conventional HDD's. Or am I dreaming of something that will be on the market (and affordable) when my Inspiron is long dead and collecting dust?

[n3ldan @ Mar 13th 2006 10:52PM]

that looks like a 1.8" drive to me. Too bad the connectors on the short side, my Thinkpad X40 takes a 1.8" with the connector on the long side.

I would kill for a SSD. I have a 40GB in the x40 now, which is more than enough, like everyone else has said, I keep my media seperate. Music on ipod (backups at home), some video on laptop, all video at home. It runs Ubuntu with 100% hardware support and I couldn't be happier. Less than 3 pounds, 0.8"-1.3" thick (it's wedge shaped, thinner at front), and na unbelively comfortable keyboardfor its size.
The only annoying parts are the moving ones, fan and HDD :/

[Alexandre Donzel @ Mar 19th 2006 10:27AM]

if want more storage & u dont want to have an extra HDD? just slam a BRD-RAM (or HD-DVD-RAM, or whatever that will come out soon to replace the dvd-ram) into your laptop, and youll end up with 200 gogs (i know brds arnt that big yet, but they will, its just the same rip-you-off scheme, u buy a BRD 50gig burner, then they come out with the 100/200 gig-er, like they did with cd/dvds and dvds/dvd DL). there u have youre "extra storage", magic!

[bufbarnaby @ Mar 19th 2006 6:29PM]

Finally something to get excited about ! I`m so sick of hearing about the Jobs-pod compressed music device.