14 DAY TRIAL // There is a new range of solid state drives on the market, one that SanDisk developed and equipped with not just high performance but also advanced error checking and recovery features.
The new series of SSDs from SanDisk is called X100 and is primarily aimed at client computers, particularly ultrabooks and other ultrathin laptops.
The company is offering them both standalone and in dual drive caching options.
They are all made up of MLC (multi-level cell) NAND Flash memory chips and, thanks to the SATA III interface (SATA 6.0 Gbps), can achieve speeds of 500 MB/s when reading and 420 MB/s when writing.
Speaking of the memory chips, SanDisk crammed enough of them in the 2.5-inch package (9 mm or 7.2 mm thickness) to reach a capacity of as much as 512 GB.
Thus, the complete series includes five drives, with capacities of 32GB, 64GB, 128GB, 256GB and 512GB, respectively.
“With the introduction of the X100 SSD, SanDisk now offers OEMs a complete selection of SSD storage choices,” said Kevin Conley, senior vice president and general manager, client storage solutions, SanDisk.
“From the smallest BGA form factors of the iSSD to the economical lower power U100, all the way up to the high performance and high capacity points of our new X100, SanDisk offers a solution to meet the needs of notebook, desktop and ultra-thin laptop manufacturers.”
In layman terms, the SSDs are fast enough to copy even 4GB HD movies in under 10 seconds.
Furthermore, the newcomers have a MTBF (Mean Time Between Failures) of up to two million hours and a power draw of 150mW (at 3.3V), or 75mW (3.3V) in standby.
Finally, the company was careful to implement “robust, continual background error checking and advanced NAND recovery mechanisms.”
No prices were mentioned, but all the other pieces of information can be found on the official product page.