Does S3 Do Flash Drives Now? Nope, It's S3+

Memory firm S3+ (don't confuse it with S3, which is part of VIA and makes graphics devices) showcased two flash-based hard drives.

Transcend: 2-32 GB 2.5" SSD Flash HDDs

Transcend also has some, but the product catalog has no information on performance.

San Disk: 64 GB Flash HDDs!

Two Flash-based hard drives are on display at Computex: A 1.8" version and a 2.5" model. Both were labeled with a 64 GB sticker, which technically isn't too difficult to achieve. However, we haven't even received the 32 GB version for review.

Want More? 128 GB Flash SAFD HDDs By Apacer

This product sounds even better: Apacer offers a 3 Gb/s SATA II interface and performance of up to 120 MB/s for reads and 80 MB/s for writes. Given the complexity behind such a product we're sure that the 128 GB top model will never hit the market for anything under $ 2,000, making this a very theoretical product. However, the 2.5" SAFD starts off at 8 GB, and we expect to see capacity points in between. I personally would love a 32 or 64 GB version that has this capacity.

PNY Goes Flash HDD Too

We found the widest product lineup of flash hard drives at the PNY booth. The firm also offers up to 128 GB and says it is weeks away from shipping. The different variants include 3.5" SATA and UltraATA versions, 2.5" and 1.8" with SATA and 1.8" with ZIF connectors. The 128 MB version based on SLC flash (Single-Level Cell) is expected to reach 66 MB/s reading and 55 MB/s writing, while MLC is limited to 52 MB/s and 18 MB/s. There is no performance difference between UltraATA and Serial ATA interfaces, but there is a difference between the 3.5" and the 2.5" drives: The latter achieves a maximum of 42 MB/s reading and 40 MB/s writing (SLC). PNY also has a second product line that targets industrial customers. The flash drives hence are more robust.