SSD Technology Gets Tougher

Building genuinely rugged notebooks has always been challenging for custom system builders. Parts that require shock-absorbing materials such as bodies and screens are simple to put together, but delicate components such as hard drives have never been easy to insulate from shocks.

PRODUCT: SATA Solid State Drive PRICE: $565 Distributors/Integrators: Malabs Warranty: 1 year Company: Super Talent Technology San Jose, Calif. (408) 934-2560 www.supertalent.com

The solution stems from a recent resurgence of solid state drives (SSD), and in March, Super Talent Technology released a new solid state line of notebook SATA drives to OEMs and resellers. The hard drives only use Flash storage components, so they have no moving parts and are extremely lightweight.

The SSDs come in 1.8-inch, 2.5-inch and 3.5-inch form factors, ranging in capacity between 16 Gbytes and 128 Gbytes. They are silent and consume far less power than conventional hard drives. According to Super Talent, the drives consume 85 percent less power while in operation than hard disk drives.

CRN tested the 2.5 inch 16-Gbyte drive on an Intel-based laptop. Before installation, Test Center engineers dropped the drive several times onto a workbench and onto a padded floor. The unit passed these tests and performed flawlessly. According to Super Talent, these drives can resist shocks of up to 1,500G, and while operating, they can withstand vibrations of 16G.

These drives prove tough enough to satisfy military specifications and field research work. Custom system builders also can use the SSD technology in markets that utilize POS terminals.

Super Talent's SSDs have incredibly fast access times. The 16-Gbyte drive tested provided instant access to data files and Windows XP. Contrary to Super Talent's claim that SSDs offer comparable write speeds to hard disks, the drive did not outperform larger hard disks during writing operations.