Intel updates its cable of solid-state drives Earlier this year,
Intel shove itself into the reality of strong country drives (SSDs. The party launched the Z-U130 series of NAND flash-based SSDs which used the basic USB 2. 0 interface. Intel's Z-U130 merchandise household consisted of 1GB, 2GB, 4GB and 8GB models. Performance was quite paltry with read speeds of 28MB/sec and publish speeds of 20MB/sec.

Not one to have an other production waste in an aggressive marketplace, Intel is introducing its review to the Z-U130: the Z-P140. Intel's Z-P140 SSDs forego the USB 2. 0 port and instead take a PATA port. Due to effective promotion, the Z-P140 PATA SSDs standard just 12x18x1. 8mm -- 400 multiplication little than a 1. 8" HDD -- and consider simply 0. 6 grams. Power use is a small 1. 1mW while unused and 300mW during take/publish operations. The Mean-Time Before Failure (MTBF) of the Z-P140 PATA SSDs, which take Intel SD54B and SD58B NAND instant chips, is 2. 5 million hours.

The Z-P140 PATA SSDs are available in 2GB of 4GB modules; however, they can be expanded up to 16GB by using four 4GB modules. In addition, read and write speeds are now faster at 40MB/sec and 30MB/sec respectively.

"Our mission is to provide world-class non-volatile SSD and caching solutions that are designed, optimized and validated to enhance Intel Architecture-based computing platforms," said Pete Hazen, Intel's NAND Products Group director of marketing. "Our customers are finding the Intel Z-P140 PATA SSD to be the right size, fit and performance for their pocketable designs. This is Intel's latest offering as we continue to expand our product line of reliable, feature-rich and high-performing SSDs."

Intel's new line of SSDs aren't likely to give competing SSD manufacturers Samsung, Toshiba or Mtron much pause -- SSDs from those manufacturers come in larger 1.8" and 2.5" form-factors and are at least twice as fast in read/write operations. However, Intel is likely to target cell phone, portable media player (PMP) and UMPC vendors.

In fact, Intel's new SSDs sound like a perfect fit for a probable ASUS Eee PC 16G.

Toshiba prepares 32GB, 64GB and 128GB SSDs The solid-state disc (SSD) marketplace is starting to ignite upward and an original musician is willing to hurl its hat into the gang. Toshiba today announced that it will establish an original lineup of multi-level cubicle (MLC) NAND-based SSDs next year. The MLC NAND chips used in the drives are built on a 56nm manufacturing procedure and permit for learn speeds of 100MB/sec and publish speeds of 40MB/sec. The publish learn are not rather aggressive with the latest generation of SSDs from Samsung and Mtron while the publish speeds are far behind.

Samsung's newest SSDs provide write speeds of 100MB/sec and Mtron SSDs loom around the 90MB/sec score. Toshiba will establish its original SATA II SSDs in capacities of 32GB, 64GB and 128GB. All will be accessible in 1. 8 or 2. 5" form-factors and will get an operating living of approximately one million hours. Toshiba expects to exhibit the drives at CES in January and production-level hardware will first be accessible during the best fourth of 2008. Production versions of the 128GB effort, however, aren't expected until May 2008.

As is the case with most original SSD proclamation, there is no word on pricing for the Toshiba’s original SSDs. Prices have dropped as much players have entered the marketplace, but prices have not go downward to the level were simple mortals can give to fall a 64GB SSD into their laptop. Hopefully for consumers, 2008 will be the “Year of the SSD” and will be accompanied by profound cost cuts as the engineering matures.