Toshiba ships low-cost 128GB SSD
updated 12:00 pm EDT, Mon March 24, 2008
Toshiba 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.
Fall Looks Good
03/24, 12:43pm reply
As a time to purchase a Macbook with one of these in it
MiMiC
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Jun 2007
MLC? No thanks
03/24, 01:53pm reply
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.
CIA
Mac Elite
Joined: Dec 1999
low-cost?
03/24, 02:19pm reply
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".
testudo
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Aug 2001
Re: low-cost?
03/24, 03:30pm reply
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.
MarkLT1
Mac Enthusiast
Joined: Nov 2002
Re: low-cost
03/24, 05:02pm reply
Wow, an informative post that answers a question. All without the 't*******' name calling.
Am I really on MacNN???
testudo
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Aug 2001
Am I really on MacNN???
03/25, 03:06am reply
actually... you're not.
Tofino
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Apr 2005