Conventional Hard Drive Obsoletism? Samsung's 32 GB Flash Drive Previewed

Conclusion

Samsung has released mobile computers based upon its Solid State Flash hard drives into the Korean market as of early June. The Q30 laptop generates as little as ~30 db(A) of noise, while the Q1 portable runs totally silent and according to Samsung both boot Windows XP 25-50% faster than systems featuring traditional hard drives. Considering that both system run on conventional Pentium M / Centrino hardware, their respective MSRPs of $3,700 and $2,430 seem a little pricey.

Still Samsung's latest SSD drive offering creates large potential for a "platform shift", representing marked benefits for the mobile enthusiasts and space conservatives among us. Keep your eye out for the integration of these Flash drives and consider their advantages when making your next upgrade decision.

As a stand-alone purchase it would wise to utilize the fast file access as a location for your operating system and swap files, and distribute file/system access between existing drives. Integrated features of the drive also let users easily take advantage of Vista's new ReadyBoost/Superfetch features. The power consumption and physical sturdiness of the unit indicate strong inclinations toward mobile use and should allow for the manufacture of products with longer battery life, increased durability and reduced weight as well as decreasing boot times. Non-volatile, large capacity Flash based SSD is a fantastic idea whose time has almost come.

Author's Opinion

When you receive a device that can provide superior physical and performance specifications while standing to augment existing technology in so many areas, where do you start? Samsung hints toward varied target applications including POS terminals, notebook/sub-notebooks, cache based performance enhancement, in-flight entertainment... the possibilities seem endless. I only wish my notebook had two onboard ATA slots, because 30 GB aren't enough any more these days.

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