Transcend Delivers mSATA and Half-slim SSDs for Small Form-factor Devices

Nowadays, more and more consumer devices rely on SSD drives for their storage needs, so Transcend developed two new compact solid state disks that should be right at home in most thin and light notebooks, netbooks, tablets, GPS, and mobile Internet devices (MID).

Compared to regular 2.5-inch drives, these new SSDs are a lot more compact, the mSATA model being just one twelfth the volume and one seventh the weight of a regular drive, measuring only 29.85mm x 50.8mm x 3.5mm, according to the company.

Developed just a year earlier, the mSATA standard uses a low profile connector and is specially designed to be used in small form factor applications, its speed coming in at a maximum of 3.0 Gbps.

The second SSD in Transcend's compact line is built using the half-slim standard that represents about one eighth the volume of a regular 2.5-inch drive.

Unlike the mSATA standard, half-slim SSDs rely on the same SATA and power interfaces as those used in regular drives, making it compatible with virtually every netbook or computer motherboard available out there.

This also means the solid state disks can be used together with most industrial motherboards and mainboards, Transcend even recommending the drive for industrial control systems.

As far as the controllers used in these SSDs are regarded, Transcend didn't release any information, although their product page delivers some performance numbers for the half-slim models.

According to the company's claims, the read speed varies between 54MB/s and 100MB/s, the write throughput also fluctuating between 14MB/s and 40MB/s according to the drive's storage space.

Transcend’s mSATA SSDs are offered in 32GB and 64GB capacities, while the half-slim SATA solid state disks are available in capacities ranging from 4GB to 64GB.

Sadly, prices haven't been disclosed, but such niche solutions usually cost a pretty penny.