http://www.engadget.com/2007/09/28/hitachis-new-ssd-withstands-lots-of-overwrites/ Engadget Comments for Hitachi's new SSD withstands lots of overwrites http://www.engadget.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.engadget.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.engadget.com/2007/09/28/hitachis-new-ssd-withstands-lots-of-overwrites/http://www.engadget.com/2007/09/28/hitachis-new-ssd-withstands-lots-of-overwrites/
What is the difference between SSD and Flash memory?

Ive heard both terms used.

Also, will they be Macbook compatible?

(and note: I am an apple fanboy but I am not gonna start some mac vs pc debate. I jsut want to know if its good on my mac. K?)]]>Sep 28th 2007 11:01PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/09/28/hitachis-new-ssd-withstands-lots-of-overwrites/http://www.engadget.com/2007/09/28/hitachis-new-ssd-withstands-lots-of-overwrites/Flash Memory is solid state memory.
So an SSD is like a hard disk, but instead of magnetic platters, it has flash memory inside it.
All SSD's are flash memory, but flash memory is in a lot of things - memory cards, game consoles, SSD's, flash drives, etc. The advantages are that flash memory is smaller, quieter, faster, and runs cooler than hard drives, and doesn't need constant power like RAM. The disadvantages are the high costs and the limited number of read-write cycles (hence this research).
And yes, an SSD will probably work in your macbook. Macbooks use either SATA or IDE (i don't remember which), and SSD's will probably come in both flavors.]]>Sep 28th 2007 11:55PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/09/28/hitachis-new-ssd-withstands-lots-of-overwrites/http://www.engadget.com/2007/09/28/hitachis-new-ssd-withstands-lots-of-overwrites/Sep 29th 2007 12:06AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/09/28/hitachis-new-ssd-withstands-lots-of-overwrites/http://www.engadget.com/2007/09/28/hitachis-new-ssd-withstands-lots-of-overwrites/Sep 29th 2007 12:08AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/09/28/hitachis-new-ssd-withstands-lots-of-overwrites/http://www.engadget.com/2007/09/28/hitachis-new-ssd-withstands-lots-of-overwrites/
That's not correct. There are other solid state memory technologies that can be used.

For instance, you can make an SSD out of DRAM. It's not a very good choice for a laptop (because it will constantly suck up power) but they've been used in servers for a long time. Here is an example:

http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/12/05/hyperos_dram_hard_drive_on_the_block/

There are other non-volatile solid state memory technologies in development. In a few years (or maybe more than a few) they will be common in SSDs.]]>Sep 29th 2007 12:21AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/09/28/hitachis-new-ssd-withstands-lots-of-overwrites/http://www.engadget.com/2007/09/28/hitachis-new-ssd-withstands-lots-of-overwrites/Sep 29th 2007 2:46AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/09/28/hitachis-new-ssd-withstands-lots-of-overwrites/http://www.engadget.com/2007/09/28/hitachis-new-ssd-withstands-lots-of-overwrites/
but in event of power failure, you will still lose data? which was supposed to be one of the advantages over spinning disk drives? (albeit in a different scenario, i.e. mechanical failure)

lots of question marks there.
]]>Sep 28th 2007 11:13PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/09/28/hitachis-new-ssd-withstands-lots-of-overwrites/http://www.engadget.com/2007/09/28/hitachis-new-ssd-withstands-lots-of-overwrites/
What's special about this drive is that it apparently won't wear out until many, many more write-erase cycles are performed on it.]]>Sep 28th 2007 11:48PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/09/28/hitachis-new-ssd-withstands-lots-of-overwrites/http://www.engadget.com/2007/09/28/hitachis-new-ssd-withstands-lots-of-overwrites/Sep 28th 2007 11:14PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/09/28/hitachis-new-ssd-withstands-lots-of-overwrites/http://www.engadget.com/2007/09/28/hitachis-new-ssd-withstands-lots-of-overwrites/Sep 29th 2007 12:10AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/09/28/hitachis-new-ssd-withstands-lots-of-overwrites/http://www.engadget.com/2007/09/28/hitachis-new-ssd-withstands-lots-of-overwrites/http://www.gigabyte.us/Products/Storage/Products_Overview.aspx?ProductID=2180&ProductName=GC-RAMDISK

Only they added some flash memory and algorithm to move the stuff when there's no power.

And they squeezed it in a smaller package.


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packbuddy.com]]>Sep 29th 2007 12:14AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/09/28/hitachis-new-ssd-withstands-lots-of-overwrites/http://www.engadget.com/2007/09/28/hitachis-new-ssd-withstands-lots-of-overwrites/Sep 29th 2007 2:08AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/09/28/hitachis-new-ssd-withstands-lots-of-overwrites/http://www.engadget.com/2007/09/28/hitachis-new-ssd-withstands-lots-of-overwrites/
I think in like 1-2 years most notebooks on the market will have a viable SSD option. I would buy one, but today a 32 Gb SSD can cost as much as a cheap notebook.]]>Sep 29th 2007 7:58AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/09/28/hitachis-new-ssd-withstands-lots-of-overwrites/http://www.engadget.com/2007/09/28/hitachis-new-ssd-withstands-lots-of-overwrites/
Gotta love nonsensical Japanese slogans.

One of my favorites is for a Japanese delivery company.
Their slogan is "With your life"]]>Sep 29th 2007 9:21AM