14 DAY TRIAL // SanDisk is probably one of the most prolific flash drive manufacturers in the world. As strange as it may seem, this is by no means an understatement. And if you want to be sure, you can always check their website. Evidently it's not the impressive line of products that makes the difference but the fact that they offer some of the best flash-based products in the world.
When SSDs appeared, SanDisk was already preparing its own line of productsbased on Solid State technology. In January 2007 the company announced the arrival of their first SSD units in form of two separate products. The 5000 SSD line consisted of two 32GB disks, one packed in 1.8" form and another produced for 2.5" form factors. The 1.8" UATA model was so successful that Dell announced almost immediately the availability of the 32GB SSD as an option for its Latitude ATG line.
Now it's time for 64GB units to enter the stage. And because we're talking about SanDisk here, there are also two separate forms for this capacity. First we have a 64GB 1.8" UATA (as part of the 5000 SSD) and then another 64GB unit but packed in 2.5" form and using the SATA transfer method (which belongs to the same 5000 SSD line).
Both the SSDs offer a MTBF of 2 million hours, average access speeds of only 0.11 milliseconds and average read speeds of 67MB/sec (which makes it at least as fast as 7200rpm laptop units). Both SSDs consume just 0.4 watts in idle mode and 1.0 watt when running in full load.
"Laptop manufacturers have requested more memory capacity for systems that use the Microsoft Vista platform, which can require a number of preloaded accessories and security suites. Also, there is interest in developing laptops for gaming, and the SSD is well-suited for the performance and memory requirements of those users. Thus, by offering greater capacities on our SSD products, we are making our products more appealing to a wider customer base," said SanDisk director of SSD product marketing Doreet Oren.
SanDisk will initially offer only some engineering samples to its traditional partners but that won't happen until the third quarter of 2007. As for the mass production, SanDisk announced that they are planning to mass release this line of products at the end of 2007.
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