New technology introduced by Samsung in 2006 revealed the 32 gig solid-state disk, the largest flash storage device on the market to date. It’s designed for mobile computing products, though when it was introduced in a 2006 trade show in a laptop, they didn’t specify which products would get the technology.
Like other flash memory cards, it uses an EEPROM chip as its storage, similar to the widely popular SD card or the less-used Sony Memory Stick. Known as an SSD or Solid State Disk, it works more like a hard disk drive than portable flash storage. In fact, Samsung plans to market these solid state disks are hard drive replacements for notebook computers and other portable devices.
The main advantage over using a solid state disk for the 32 gigs of memory rather than a typical hard-drive for a notebook with the same amount of storage is that the solid state disk uses much less power than the hard drive. The 32 gig solid state disk actually only has 5% of the power consumption of a micro hard drive common in notebooks. Solid state disks have no moving parts, no spinning disk like a standard hard drive, so the laptop battery will last longer on a single charge. Solid state disks also weigh less than hard drives, another advantage when notebook weight is often a deciding factor when people purchase portable computers.
The solid state disk has another key advantage over a notebook hard drive. The speed is up to three times faster when reading, and the Samsung SSD can write data one-and-a-half times faster than micro hard disks. It’s also smaller and can allow for smaller notebook design. Some analysts say that the over $500 million dollars in revenue generated by the sale of solid state disks in 2006 will increase by 2010, possibly even reaching four-and-a-half billion dollars in sales.
Right now, the cost of solid state disk storage limits the place they’re found, especially with growing technology making notebook hard drives smaller, faster, less battery consumptive, and less expensive. That same technology, though, should bring the cost of the solid state disk down, and possibly make it the standard bearer for notebook computing within the next few years. If nothing else, the dropping cost of microprocessor’s can even out the higher cost of the solid state disk, allowing a notebook to cost virtually the same even with the more expensive solid state disk replacing a micro hard disk.
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