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RunCore outs T50 6Gb/s mSATA SSD, SandForce speeds included
It's finally here: a 6Gb/s mSATA SSD, rocking those highly coveted SandForce speeds. RunCore's new T50 series offers maximum sequential reads of 550 MB/s and writes of 470 MB/s, with the help of SandForce's SF-2281 controller (formerly relegated to the big boys). The little guy's being marketed for high-end portables and offers 60GB for $198 or 120GB for $358. The outfit's also touting the new I50 line, serving up more modest 280 MB/s reads and 270 MB/s writes based on SATA 3Gb/s. The I50's targeted at tablets and laptops, and ranges from $178 for 60GB to $308 for 120GB. We'll hold our final judgement for when we see these things hit the market in late July -- until then, you can peep the full PR after the break.
SanDisk outs faster U100 and i100 SSDs for ultra-portables and tablets, we go hands-on
SanDisk has been pumping out press releases all day thanks to Computex-mania, so we shuffled past its stall to see what all the fuss is about. The biggest news is the U100 range of tiny SSDs for ultraportables, which crank data in and out at twice the speed of SanDisk's previous generation P4 drives. We're talking 450MB/s reads and 340MB/s writes thanks to the latest SATA III interface, plus a max capacity of 256GB -- specs which have already enticed ASUS to use the U100 in its lightweight UX-series notebooks. Mass production is expected in Q3 of this year. Specs table and triple-shot of PR coming up after the break, plus a gallery showing size comparisons of the U100 SSD in its glorious mSATA and Mini mSATA varieties, stacked up against some common objects like a 2.5-inch SSD drive, an HP Veer, and a vaguely goth bracelet. Meanwhile, SanDisk hasn't forgotten about our desperate need for faster tablets. The company has doubled the speed of its existing iNAND embedded flash modules, and is also releasing a brand new SATA III drive, the i100, specifically for this form factor. The i100 maxes out at 128GB and achieves a significantly slower write speed (160MB/s) than the U100, but it has same impressive read speed (450MB/s) -- which should mean nippier tablets in the not-too-distant future. %Gallery-124851%
Intel's mSATA SSD 310 reviewed: a pint-size performer through and through
The forecast for speedy, razor-thin laptops is looking pretty sunny right about now, because it seems Intel's SSD 310 truly does bring the power of a full-sized solid state drive on a tiny little board. Storage Review and The SSD Review thoroughly benchmarked the tiny 80GB mSATA module this week, and found it performs even better than advertised -- easily tearing through 200MB / sec reads and 70 MB / sec writes -- which put it slightly behind Intel's legendary X25-M series but well ahead of the company's X25-V boot drives. While we're still not seeing Sandforce speeds from Intel's tried-and-true controller and 34nm silicon and they might not make Toshiba's Blade run for the hills, we can't wait to test it out in some new Lenovo ThinkPads when they integrate the SSD 310 later this year. Oh, by the way, that big green board up above isn't the drive. It's actually the tiny one on top.
SanDisk works it harder, unveils G4 and P4 solid state drives
Still haven't dropped a speedy solid state drive into your PC? SanDisk might just tempt you with its latest batch. At Computex 2010 the memory manufacturer announced its fourth-generation SSD lineup, consisting of the laptop-sized SSD G4 and the diminutive SSD P4 -- those tiny mini-SATA netbook boards you see chilling outside Jefferson's posh, nickel-plated mansion. The former will arrive in up to 256GB capacities with 220MB / sec read speeds and 160MB / sec writes (a sizable bump from prior numbers) while the latter range in size from 8GB to 128GB. Both feature the usual set of marketing buzzwords indicating speed and reliability, and both are slated to enter the OEM market in Q3 2010. That said, considering SanDisk's recent track record here, we wonder if the company meant third quarter next year. PR after the break.
Toshiba bolsters 32nm mSATA SSD lineup, your future netbook nods approvingly
We like to think of 'em as the SSDs for the little guys, and we couldn't be happier to hear that they're getting bigger and bigger in terms of capacity. Toshiba introduced the first solid state drives to use the mini-SATA interface back in September of '09, and while those 32nm units were made available in 30GB and 62GB sizes, the pack rats weren't satisfied. Now, the company has introduced a 128GB flavor with an mSATA interface, offering up a maximum sequential read speed of 180MB/s and a maximum sequential write speed of 70MB/s. The 128GB modules are said be one-seventh the volume and one-eighth the weight of 2.5-inch SSDs, and in case that's not enough, the third-generation HG SSDs will bring nearly twice the aforesaid speed and will ship in capacities of 64GB, 128GB, 256GB and 512GB. Hit the source link for all the dirt... except for the pricing, naturally.
Toshiba announces first SSD drives using new mini-SATA interface
Netbook SSDs have come in all manner of shapes, sizes, and connectors for a while, but finding the right model for your machine is about to get a lot easier -- the SATA-IO working group just announced a new mini-SATA standard called mSATA that should put an end to the mish-mash. Toshiba's the first out the gate with 32nm drives in 30 and 62GB sizes, but expect to see mSATA drives and machines from a whole host of heavy hitters in the future, like Samsung, Dell, HP, SanDisk, Lenovo, STEC, and Toshiba. That's pretty good news -- now let's just hope standardization leads to lower prices as well. Read - SATA-IO announces mini-SATA standard Read - Toshiba announces first mSATA drives
