On Tuesday during the Flash Memory Summit 2012, SanDisk said that Lenovo has selected one of its SSDs to be the storage solution of choice for the just-launched 14-inch ThinkPad X1 Carbon Ultrabok. Deemed as the "world's lightest" 14-inch Ultrabook, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon comes packed with a 128 GB or 256 GB SanDisk X100 SSD for incredibly responsive, small form factor storage.
According to the specs, SanDisk's X100 SSDs connect via an SATA 3 (6 Gb/s) interface, and offer up to 500 MB/s sequential read speeds, and up to 430 MB/s sequential write speeds. The drive can also reach 76,000 IOPS random read and 43,000 IOPS random write speeds.
SandDisk's X100 SSD -- a MLC NAND flash drive -- uses tiered caching technology to direct data streams to the appropriate layer for maximum performance, greatly improving responsiveness and extending the life of the flash drive. It also features an extreme endurance of 80 TBW under 128 GB/day workload.
"The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon is stunning both in terms of its aesthetics as well as its capabilities," said Kevin Conley, senior vice president and general manager, Client Storage Solutions, SanDisk. "Our custom version of the SanDisk X100 SSD helps Lenovo deliver high-capacity and high-performance storage for this innovative Ultrabook product."
As for Lenovo's Ultrabook, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon launched on Tuesday, August 21, packing a 14-inch display within a 13-inch form factor. Forged from carbon fiber, it features a backlit keyboard, a multi-gesture glass surface touchpad, an HD face-tracking camera, dual array microphones and Dolby-tuned audio.
Starting at $1,299, the Ultrabook offers up to 3rd-generation Intel Core i7 processors, up to 6.3 hours of battery life, up to a 256 GB SanDisk X100 SSD, and up to 8 GB of RAM, depending on your budget. There are also options for a fingertip reader, TPM and BIOS encryption, mobile hotspot network sharing, and various ports including one USB 3.0 port, one USB 2.0 port, a mini-DisplayPort with audio, and a 4-in-1 SD card reader.
"Lenovo’s leadership pioneering the X1 Carbon pushes the envelope in terms of bringing ‘no compromise performance’ to an extremely thin, light and connected form factor,” said Tom Butler, director Worldwide ThinkPad Product Marketing, Lenovo. "Collaborating with SanDisk has helped us enable the ThinkPad X1 Carbon’s design."
For more information about Lenovo's new ThinkPad X1 Carbon Ultrabook, head here. SanDisk's range of consumer-based SSDs can be accessed here, whereas its Lightning series of SSDs for the enterprise sector can be found here. SanDisk, as seen with the Lenovo Ultrabook, also sells SSDs directly to OEMs.
