Faster than a speeding bullet
SanDisk's latest SSDs won't help you if you're looking for a performance boost for your desktop machine, but the U100, i100 and iNAND will be of use to makers of ultra-portable laptops, tablets and devices featuring embedded storage respectively.
The iNAND is designed for embedded sytems, such as tablets and other mobile devices, with write speeds of up to 50MB/s, read speeds of up to 80MB/s and capacities from 16GB to 64GB. The chip measures 12mm by 16mm by 1mm in its smallest configuration.
The i100 iSSD is available in capacities from 8GB to 128GB and is, says SanDisk, the world's smallest and fastest Ball Grid Array SSD. Performance-wise, the i100 offers write speeds of up to 160MB/s and read speeds of up to 450MB/s. The i100 measures 16mm x 20mm x 1.4mm in 64GB, and smaller, capacities and expands to 1.75mm thick in its 128GB guise.
The U100 ups the maximum possible capacity to 256GB, and increases the write sped a fair bit at up to 340MB/s - the same 450MB/s read speed as the i100 still applies, though. The U100 is available in a variety of form factors, including 2.5in casings, mSATA boards and even customised solutions.
SanDisk is keen to point out that its U100 drive will be found inside the Asus UX ultra-portable, the compact dimensions and performance figures helping Asus to get the performance, battery life and compact size it desired of its system.
Both the U100 and i100 have a sub-10mW power draw (in 'slumber mode'), and use a SATA-III, 6Gb/s interface. All of SanDisk's new drives will be available to OEMs through Q3, so expect systems utilising them in to appear in the months thereafter.
