Join our team. Take our survey and apply for a job.
macnn/electronista

03/24/2008, 12:00pm, EDT

Monday, March 24th

Toshiba ships low-cost 128GB SSD

Toshiba is about to ship its 128GB solid-state drive, the first SSD from the company and the first it says to offer the speed of faster drives with the storage of slower models. The 1.8-inch drive uses the same multi-level cell (MLC) process as the flash memory used in portable music players but also relies on a new controller that boosts its speeds well past the sometimes slow speeds of these cheaper drives. As promised, the unit can read at 100MB per second and writes at 40MB per second, making it faster than many 2.5-inch, notebook-sized drives.

The company has not revealed pricing for the Serial ATA drive, which currently ships in a raw, board-only format and will primarily be used in the DynaBook SS RX1 (Portégé R500 in the US) as well as future PCs from third party manufacturers. Versions with the casings normally used for 1.8- and 2.5-inch hard drives should start sampling in April and go into production within the next few months.

Toshiba's drive is expected to cost less than a competing Samsung 128GB drive, which will also start shipping soon but will use single-level cell technology and write faster at 70MB per second.


Filed under: upgrades/storage
Other story tags: Samsung, Toshiba

, , 6comments, del.icio.us, slashdot, digg
6 comments
Reader Reactions

subscribe to comments
for this article




220378 03/24, 12:43pm, EDT Fall Looks Good
As a time to purchase a Macbook with one of these in it

posted by MiMiC

220380 03/24, 1:53pm, EDT MLC? No thanks
MLC sucks. Unreliable, slower, with less overall life. SLC like what is used in the Samsung model is faster, and more dependable in the long run.

posted by CIA

220382 03/24, 2:19pm, EDT low-cost?
How can an article claim it is releasing a low-cost drive without actually knowing, or even speculating, on the cost. At best, you could say "lower cost then current competing model".

posted by testudo

220393 03/24, 3:30pm, EDT Re: low-cost?
Currently there are two classifications of SSD drives- consumer/"low cost" (what is currently in the MBA, $600-$1500 for an SSD), and enterprise/"high cost" models which are many thousands of dollars.

128GB and larger SSDs have been around for quite some time, but at a price tag of $10k+, and with their bulky size, they aren't exactly what you'd use in a notebook.

The reference to "low cost" in the article probably should have read "consumer" or "portable", as its "low cost" will still probably be more expensive than the 64GB SSDs you are seeing for notebooks right now.

posted by MarkLT1

220400 03/24, 5:02pm, EDT Re: low-cost
Wow, an informative post that answers a question. All without the 'testicle' name calling.

Am I really on MacNN???

posted by testudo

220433 03/25, 3:06am, EDT Am I really on MacNN???
actually... you're not.

posted by Tofino

Your Comments

In order to post comments: If you are a registered member, please login with your MacNN Forums username and password otherwise please uncheck the checkbox below.


Registered Member? (uncheck if you wish to post without logging in)
 
macnn forums login:

macnn forums password:

Not a member of the MacNN forums? Register now for free.

AT&T Cell Phones: Get your next AT&T phone at 1800mobiles.com

PowerBookMedic will fix any Powerbook, iBook, iPod: We offer Parts, Hard Drives, Superdrives, Ram Upgrades & Repairs all backed up w/ our 1YR Warranty!

Get Microsoft Office Live Workspace: Sign Up Free and You Could Win $100K

CHECK OUT THE VIERA FROM PANASONIC: Enter a New Visual Era with Panasonic VIERA HDTVs. An Enhanced Experience.

Sony Entry-Level Data Projectors With HDMI!: Universally Seen As The Perfect Choice For Education & Business. Bright, Stylish, Easy To Use!

Dual Core: Find dual core, Review & Compare!

Buy from The Apple Store, iTunes.com, Amazon.com, TechDepot, OfficeDepot, Computers4Sure, or donate.