Samsung takes SSD to 256GB

Promises to be World's fastest, lightest and thinnest

26 May 2008 6:56 GMT / By Stuart Miles

Samsung has created the World’s fastest and largest capacity 2.5-inch Solid State Drive spelling the way forward for more storage on the go.

The new 2.5-inch, MLC-based (256GB) SSD with SATA II Interface drive will also be the thinnest drive with the largest capacity to be offered with a SATA II interface.

With a sequential read speed of 200 megabits per second (Mbps) and sequential write speed of 160Mbps, Samsung’s MLC-based 2.5-inch 256GB SSD is about 2.4 times faster than a typical HDD. Furthermore, the new 256 GB SSD is only 9.5 millimeters (mm) thick, and measures 100.3 x 69.85mm.

“With development of the 256GB SSD, the notebook PC is on the brink of a second stage of evolution. This change is comparable to the evolution from the Sony Walkman to NAND memory-based MP3 players, representing an initial step in the shift to thinner, smaller SSD-based notebooks with significantly improved performance and more than ample storage”, said Jim Elliott, vice president, memory marketing at Samsung.

Samsung is expected to begin mass producing the 2.5-inch, 256GB SSD by year end, with customer samples available in September. A 1.8-inch version of the 256GB SSD is expected to be available in the fourth quarter of 2008.

According to a Q1 2008 report by the semiconductor market research firm iSuppli, the SSD market will grow at an annual average of 124% during the 4year period from 2008 until 2012. iSuppli now projects SSD sales to increase by an additional 35% in 2009 over what it projected last year, 51% more in 2010, and 89% more in 2011, and continue to show dramatic increases in subsequent years.

No word on price, but expect that “Evolution” promised not to come cheap. As an example, opting for a 64GB SSD in Apple’s MacBook Air will set you back an extra £639.