Anyone heard of iSSD?

[Freedom Kira]

New technology created by SanDisk, a tiny chip of a(n) SSD. It was announced on Wednesday, August 18th, 2010. I stumbled upon the article linked from this page.

Specs (what I could gather):
Size: 4-64GB
Speeds: ~160MBps read, ~100MBps write
Interface is SATA, but different somehow... not many details given
Physical size: 16mm x 20mm x 1.85mm
Weight/mass: <1g

Thoughts?

[METALINGUS]

looks promising so far

[bork]

Think its meant to be a small form factor storage device were the device does not have room for a disk drive.

[fohfoh]

Think its meant to be a small form factor storage device were the device does not have room for a disk drive.

Concur. I also think it's more for the smart phone market atm than a proper notebook than can actually afford a true SSD.

[iindigo]

I could also see these things being used in portable music players where size and form factor are major concerns (i.e. the customer is looking for a small device with a decent capacity).

[fohfoh]

I could also see these things being used in portable music players where size and form factor are major concerns (i.e. the customer is looking for a small device with a decent capacity).

Does it really need those levels of speed for such a product? I can see "maybe" in a pmp... but a normal music player...

[iindigo]

Perhaps not, but if this technology becomes inexpensive enough, it might replace plain old flash memory.

[fohfoh]

Perhaps not, but if this technology becomes inexpensive enough, it might replace plain old flash memory.

That's a given. Though it's like thinking that Blurays will get rid of DVD. I think there's going to be a parallel for a while, but who's to really say?

[Nikaido]

That's a given. Though it's like thinking that Blurays will get rid of DVD. I think there's going to be a parallel for a while, but who's to really say?

Kind of like the parallel for VHS & DVD. Took them 10 years to stop making VHS's. This is between the time that Twister-1996 came out (first dvd released) and History of Violence-2006 came out (last mass production VHS released). They still make VHS's for new releases, but they're collectibles, like The House of the Devil.

ON TOPIC: I don't even want to think about the price of the 64GB card when it first gets put on the market.

[Freedom Kira]

I was thinking it was aimed more at tiny form factor (extra small) netbooks... and perhaps really high-powered smartphones.

And yeah, for the time being it'll probably be super expensive, but I'm expecting it to fall to a consumer-affordable range within a couple years.

[fohfoh]

Currently $751 for a 128GB thumb drive... oh yeah.

Umm... $1400 for the iPhone 5 with "uberfast OS and 64GB memory"... oh yeah.

[Freedom Kira]

Okay, maybe not just a couple years. =P

Is it that much for a 128G USB stick? I thought it was closer to $500.

[bloody000]

I could also see these things being used in portable music players where size and form factor are major concerns (i.e. the customer is looking for a small device with a decent capacity).

No. This is a flash memory + controller all-in-one chip, meaning you need a SATA controller on the other side of the equation. That would be stupid for phones and PMPs.  This is designed for systems that already have a SATA controller such as PCs of various form-factors.

[fohfoh]

Okay, maybe not just a couple years. =P

Is it that much for a 128G USB stick? I thought it was closer to $500.

Depends on brand and "features"

32GB Kingston w/ encryption.... for $999.99 on newegg.ca ALRIGHT!

You still need a sata for that thing? O_o

[Freedom Kira]

With encryption, huh. As if there's no freeware for that. =P

But yeah, 128GB drives on Newegg are $300-400 CAD. I'd say that's fair.

iSSD uses a SATA interface with some tweaks, as mentioned in the article.