The mSATA 3 solid-state drive has been added to the existing lineup

Jan 15, 2013 08:45 GMT  ·  By

Hybrid drives will have to rise and fall before pure solid-state drives take over the storage industry completely, assuming it ever happens, but that doesn't mean SSDs can't thrive somewhat in the meantime.

Super Talent is one of the companies that helped SSDs rise in importance over the past few years, and which benefited from that success.

The invention of ultrabooks was just the latest chance of greatness offered to the storage media.

Since these ultrathin mobile personal computers need the smallest and thinnest of components, SSDs have an advantage over HDDs and HHDs.

Sure, platter spinners come in 2.5-inch and even 1.8-inch form factors at times, but mSATA SSDs are still quite a bit smaller.

And even then, mSATA SSDs can pack a solid storage capacity. Super Talent doesn't get the crown here, true, but 120 GB is still decent.

Either way, the read and write speeds are more relevant than file storing space: reading is accomplished at a maximum of 550 MB/s, writing is done at up to 500 MB/s.

Needless to say, the numbers would not be possible without the use of the SATA III interface (SATA 6.0 Gbps).

"With tablets taking over the market and becoming a norm in households, it is only a matter of time before people begin to feel the need to upgrade storage space on their portable devices. Our mSATA 3 SSD which provides up to 120 GB of storage is the perfect solution for these users," said Shimon, VP of engineering, Super Talent Technology.

All the technical details on the MSATA 3 SSD drive, as well as its two siblings (mSATA 1 and mSATA 2) are available here.

Sadly, Super Talent hasn't disclosed arrival dates or the price of the newcomer, or its lower-capacity versions (as low as 30 GB).