PQI's 64GB SSD with SATA connector: a world's first, twice

PQI just announced the availability of their 64GB, 2.5-inch drive -- doubling the size of current SSDs packed in either 1.8-inch or 2.5-inch IDE enclosures. That's news, big news in and of itself. But these drives are also the world's first to sport SATA. That's right, thick juicy SATA which should make it possible to do a one-for-one swap with your existing laptop's spinner. So check it DV editors, before the end of the month you too will have access to ultra-fast flash for your video. No word on pricing yet, but 64GB of NAND on a SATA interface will likely buck the trend of falling SSD prices. Temporarily anyway.

[Irwin @ Jan 11th 2007 7:38PM]

oh
my
god

[tacos @ Jan 11th 2007 7:46PM]

When I think about you I touch myself.

[aural @ Jan 11th 2007 7:59PM]

I dont know what turns me on more... the iPhone... or this.

yummy

[PEZ @ Jan 11th 2007 8:10PM]

I think I just pooped a plastic spatula.

[Kyle Interra @ Jan 11th 2007 8:26PM]

Hoooooooly mother of amazing technology...

[wookiewarrior @ Jan 11th 2007 8:39PM]

First with SATA? RiDATA announced theirs will be available with SATA back in December:

http://www.ritekusa.com/jsp/NewsDisplay.jsp?requestID=103

[anonymous @ Jan 11th 2007 8:40PM]

Does SATA allow using the full potential of a SSD? As in it's speed...

[Spencer @ Jan 11th 2007 9:00PM]

SATA allows speeds of either 1.5Gbit/s or 3.0Gbit/s. The read speed on flash memory is not *quite* that fast

[anonymous @ Jan 11th 2007 8:40PM]

its*

[Matt B. @ Jan 11th 2007 9:27PM]

I'll throw two of them in my MBP if I can get a pair for

[Matt B. @ Jan 11th 2007 9:28PM]

I'll throw two of them in my MBP if I can get a pair for under $1000

[hjb1000 @ Jan 11th 2007 9:31PM]

This is the sort of technology that will kill the magnetic hard disk industry very very quickly. Be scared Seagate, Western Digital, be very scared! If they can decrease the cost, and make the sustained transfer speeds equal/surpass magnetic HDD's, then success is assured.

[Scott Neary @ Jan 11th 2007 9:36PM]

Where is the "disk"? lol

[strider_mt2k @ Jan 11th 2007 9:53PM]

This is better than any phone on many levels.

Me wantee.

[Jesse Edgar @ Jan 11th 2007 10:05PM]

Does anyone see where this is going? The CD/DVD/BD/HDDVD/green laser, blue laser, red laser, crap is going to become obsolete...

I can't wait. Curse Discs. Curse them to hell. No more scratches, no more re-buying your CDs and dvds, faster load times, smaller exterior, more durability, the end of piracy(maybe),

The ssd is the beginning of the end. I wouldn't count on your precious BD or HDDVD to win any wars.

[stealth @ Jan 12th 2007 6:48AM]

how would these drives end piracy?

[Nick Gold @ Jan 11th 2007 10:10PM]

Can I just say, PQI freaking rocks. They always have the coolest flash stuff. And their flash drives are cheap as heck! If they put this drive in more of a 1.8" form factor, I can see it ending up in iPod/iPhone someday in the pretty near future. 2007, baby! I love living in the future.

[greg @ Jan 11th 2007 10:11PM]

come Seagate start developing solid state hard drives......don't let me down!!

[BrownBear @ Jan 11th 2007 10:33PM]

Any reason I couldn't throw this in my desktop?

[Andir3.0 @ Jan 12th 2007 8:25AM]

No, as far as I know, the SATA connections are the same. The only problem you might run into is the size of your connectors. Some of them are small enough to fit so close together.

[Ransom @ Jan 11th 2007 10:43PM]

fap fap fap

[GamerGuyX @ Jan 11th 2007 10:48PM]

Am I the only one looking that is only concerned with putting this in my desktop?

[encee @ Jan 11th 2007 10:49PM]

First? On top of those listed above Adtron & msystems lines both have sata flash 2.5" drives... and I'd be damned suprised if PQI can best the adtron stats for read/write speeds.

[hjb1000 @ Jan 11th 2007 11:04PM]

Adtron make great flash drives but have you checked the prices? $10,000 for a 64GB model... maybe ok for defence applications but for consumers?

[Mansa Smith @ Jan 11th 2007 11:11PM]

I've got the 4GB version running Vista Ultimate in my Desktop. Very nice so far. Amazing seek times. My main reasons for purchasing because this thing costs a small fortune is reliablity (no moving parts=long life=no crashes) and noiseless (perfect for my custom-built HTPC Vista Media Center).

[jon @ Jan 11th 2007 11:57PM]

Using a flash based drive for your OS is a bad idea, especially if you are looking for reliability. Flash memory has a finite number of erase-write cycles. Storing frequently rewritten files, like your disk cache is going to kill a flash drive in no time.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_memory

The only reason I would consider using a flash based drive is if they were priced significantly less than a traditional magnetic drive.

[James Whited @ Jan 11th 2007 11:15PM]

Um, give it to me in 128 GB, and I will buy one in a heart beat for my MBP, but hell, 256 would be better, but I won't press my luck.

[dasoulja321 @ Jan 12th 2007 12:20AM]

"There is also some concern that the finite number of erase/write cycles of flash memory would render flash memory unable to support an operating system. This seems to be a decreasing issue as warranties on flash-based SSD's are trending to equal or exceed those of current hard drives."

From the wiki, the flash based memory is starting to exceed hard drives in their warranties.

[kyle @ Jan 12th 2007 12:56AM]

drool

[Murc @ Jan 12th 2007 1:28AM]

OH SNAP!!!


i just felt like saying that.

[Jesse @ Jan 12th 2007 1:34AM]

totally, man- can you imagine..SSF/lan party boxes, a la shuttle's ultra compact box? They can get smaller.. and quieter... and...well, if you slap on a screen, almost as portable as a laptop with the advantage of upgradability! *w00t* or or ht/mc pcs too... one more way to keep em quiet!!

[Urza9814 @ Jan 12th 2007 5:40AM]

Sweet. But I don't even wanna THINK about how much one of them will cost. I'm happy with my sub-$100 300GB spinner, thank you very much. lol

[sid @ Jan 12th 2007 5:41AM]

does this mean less laptop heat issues? no more fans/ cooling pain?

[David @ Jan 12th 2007 6:44AM]

Why should we need bigger drives... I would be happy with a 16/32GB SSD for booting up OS which then connects via LAN to a storage server which is inside a closet in another room and voila - it's a superfast and silent desktop solution!

Of course as the SSDs get cheaper you upgrade to the bigger models but today a 16/32GB should be enough. MHO.

[Z @ Jan 12th 2007 7:57AM]

Man, give me two of these in a RAID setup and I'd be VERY happy. Even better, give me 200GB of total capacity and I'd be ecstatic!

Can't imagine those read/write speeds - they must be blazing - next to instant. Throw in some non-volatile RAM and we could probably have (or be very close to having) instant-on machines.

Besides performance, these would allow for laptops with lighter weight, greater battery life, and more stability.

[jerrt @ Jan 12th 2007 9:21AM]

I just want to know if this will fit inside my ps3. i want a near zero latency sdd to replace the hdd. sign me up. [:

[XSportSeeker @ Jan 12th 2007 10:07AM]

If they get those to last long without errors, and maintain read/write speeds as fast (or faster) than your usual magnetic HDD, this is the next generation on storage.

1- They produce far less heat;
2- Have faster seek times;
3- Are smaller;
4- More silent (or totally silent);
5- Use less power.

Computers, laptops, portable media players, cellphones... those are some of the stuff that will change for better if SSDs continue evolving like that.
iPhone is nice, but you just can't compare.

It's just like CD x MP3. SSDs don't have mechanical parts. Now you compare how much lasts 2 AA batteries on a CD-Player vs. on a MP3 player. :P

[Ben @ Jan 12th 2007 11:38AM]

OMG!!!!! A solid state SATA drive for my MacBook is about the most amazing thing i could possibly think of right now. I want one sooooo bad. I now know what Cartman must have felt like when he was waiting for that nintendo wii. I hope they can hurry along and give me a time frame and a price point.

[Robert Wicks @ Jan 12th 2007 11:49AM]

I don't think that this specific technology will completely kill regular drives because of the limited number of writes issue with flash technology. I really see these drives as being the future of file storage and backups. This should be safer than tape, and much more useful for a home user. I could easily see myself backing up all my *really* important stuff on one of these drives now. That's enough space for all my files, and bootable images for my Linux boxes (that would save me the hassle of rebuilding the box. If this thing was $300, I'd jump all over it. That's the price point they need to hit for SSD drives, I think. Even a 32GB at $300 might be a decent deal.

[B. Lenny @ Jan 12th 2007 5:46PM]

Everyone needs to make the distinction between warranty and reliability. I will warranty anything for a 1000 years if you pay me enough.

[me duh @ Jan 12th 2007 7:30PM]

And to think i nearly skipped over this entirely.
I'm thinking the on board logic it takes to maximise read speed could become a bottleneck at some point. Other than that though, it's just a matter of using these until holographic stuff kicks in, which'll be a while yet.
I dig!

[steve @ Jan 12th 2007 8:30PM]

I think that $300 for 64GB is way too optimistic. I'd suspect that it will fall in the 800-900 range. I'd be VERY surprised if it's less than $700

[ssd1 @ Feb 5th 2007 5:41PM]

Just became available today at http://www.dvnation.com/nand-flash-ssd.html . They have an entire line of PQI SSDs.