This SSD 520 series from Intel is set to bring faster graphic renderings, data transfers, compiling, and even system boot-ups. As you know, a solid state drive has no movable parts, relying instead on silicon, NAND flash memory specifically, to bring to you a lower power, faster and more reliable solution. This SSD uses an LSI SandForce Flash Storage Processor complete with an Intel co-defined and validated firmware release. The SSD 520 series from Intel will bring to you up to 80,000 maximum 4K random write Input-Output Operations Per Second (IOPS) and up to 50,000 4K random read IOPS to speed through every day operations.

You’ll also be grabbing up to 550 megabytes-per-second (MB/s) and up to 520MB/s sequential writes. The 520 series includes a 5 year warrantee and has been put through over 5,000 tests before it arrives on your doorstep. Michael Raam, vice president and general manager of LSI’s Flash Components Division, formed by LSI’s acquisition of SandForce notes the following:

“We worked closely with Intel to leverage their deep understanding of the NAND flash, ultimately providing a unique and optimized solution for client computing applications with the LSI SandForce Flash Storage Processor. Working through Intel’s extensive validation process ensures the Intel 520 SSD will raise the bar in delivering top-tier performance and superior quality and reliability over the life of the drive.” – Raam

The SSD 520 series will come in a variety of prices and sizes, these all based on a 1,000-unit quantity each: 60GB for $149, 120GB at $229, 180GB at $369, 240GB at $509 and 480GB at $999. You’ll be paying something just a bit different when you’re in the consumer market, note that!

That difference in speed between the two SSD brands commonly used inside the Air may be even more noticeable this year. According to 9to5Mac, Samsung has discontinued the SSD that it was providing Apple in large quantities. The SSD was the 470, the new SSD that will take its place is called the 830, and it is considerably faster than the old 470 series. The 830 SSDs have typical speeds of 400MB/s write and 500MB/s read.

The Toshiba model that is in the Air is according to 9to5Mac capable of only a bit over 200MB/s read and 175MB/s write. That is a huge performance gap. Samsung apparently didn’t confirm that it was shipping the 830 series to Apple, but if the old drives are no more and Apple keeps buying from Samsung; it will have to go with the new parts once stocks expire. Granted Apple could be sitting on a huge stockpile of 470 SSDs and could simply opt to change providers.

[via 9to5Mac]

The XPS 13 isn’t Dell’s first ultraportable notebook but, as Tim Peters – CSMB Client Business Strategy and Planning at Dell, pointed out to us, previous models have had more than their share of compromises. “Adamo… beautiful thin, but no substance. Two thousand dollars! We had XPS which we had to crowbar in the technology, very chunky.”

“We looked at XPS and a key trend of consumerization of IT … You had a consumer that wanted aesthetic appeal, premium design, craftsmanship and a lightweight design, and Apple’s MacBook Air came and in really hit that hard. They always wanted the instant-on, accessible data and location-aware of a device like a tablet. Then they also wanted horsepower and substance: I don’t want to compromise on taking a Core i3 only, I want something real to be productive. And, I’d like to be able to use this as my personal device, and the only way an IT manager would allow that to happen is that if it’s data-secure.”

The display is a 13.3-inch 1366 x 768 panel running at 300-nits, and covered in a sheet of edge-to-edge Gorilla Glass, powered by Intel HD 3000 graphics. Above is a 1.3-megapixel webcam and dual-array digital microphone. Connectivity includes WiFi a/g/n and Bluetooth 3.0, a single USB 3.0 and USB 2.0, mini DisplayPort and a headset jack. Unlike some rival ultrabooks, Dell has managed to squeeze in a full-sized backlit keyboard.

“We started our development a year and half ago,” Peters explained, “it’s taken us a lot of time – in fact we’re the last ones to come out with an ultrabook – because we were crafting something a level above in terms of innovation.” Although Dell obviously had other ultrabooks in mind when it designed the XPS 13, Apple’s MacBook Air has obviously also been a consideration. The new Dell’s display actually offers a similar viewing area to that of the 13-inch Air, but in a 15-percent smaller device.

Rather than solely rely on aluminum, like Apple, HP and others, Dell turned to carbon-fiber for the XPS 13′s base. “Carbon-fiber has two functional performance benefits,” the company says, “it dissipates the heat better – it’s cooler on the lap and in the hands – and it’s lighter.” That improvement in heat management has meant Dell can slot in up to Core i7 chips without worrying about overheating. In fact, Dell mentioned that the company’s engineers are actually working on a fanless version, though there’s no telling when that might arrive.

Hands-on, it feels impressively light and thin. The keyboard is nicely spaced and the keys themselves have reasonable travel given the limits of the keytray. There are plenty of neat details, like the battery gage on the side, while Dell tells us that the machined aluminum lid saves even more weight compared to some rival’s punched-aluminum production. The speakers are embedded underneath the keyboard, creating a surprisingly loud and clear soundstage, though unsurprisingly they lack some bass.

LIke other ultrabooks, the XPS 13 has Intel Rapid Start for boot times of around 5s, and instant-on resume from standby. However, Dell also implemented Intel SmartConnect, which periodically wakes the ultrabook to check calendar, email, social networking accounts and other data so that you’re up to date as soon as you open the lid. There’s also location-awareness, setting up apps for nearby restaurants, ATMs and other POIs with your current position.

Enterprise customers get Dell’s usual array of custom imaging and BIOS settings, along with asset tagging and BitLocker data encryption with TPM. There’s also ProSupport, with Dell Command Center support for speedy repairs and replacements. As for all the labels and stickers most Windows laptops are plastered in, on the new XPS they’re hidden away out of sight.

Dell expects the Core i5 version of the XPS 13 – with 4GB of memory and a 128GB SSD – to start at under $1,000 when the ultrabook ships in February. Final pricing will be decided just prior to launch.

“It’s the world’s best ultrabook” Peters concluded, “the smallest, the most powerful, the most aesthetically pleasing, the best to touch, the best at being enterprise-ready… the best of any product out there.” We’ll have to wait until we can put the XPS 13 through its paces in the full SlashGear review to find out whether we feel the same.

The unit comes with a tiny terabyte drive encased in plastic, and swappable sleeves can apply a standard knife/scissors/file combo, or a non-bladed metal sleeve for airline travel. The drive’s connector works on both USB 3.0 and e-SATA, and the drive’s 256-bit security should make the most hardcore of security advocates happy. Failing that, an auto-destruct mode (software only, of course) will enable if it detects a brute force attack.

The drive won’t be available until August, and a Victorinox associate said that they’re still considering the $3K price. (For that much, I’d like a fold-out cappuccino machine and a death laser.) For the more economically practical, the company is still offering its flash drive/knife combos.

Capacities are expected to range in size from 128GB, through 256GB and 512GB, topping out at a full terabyte for those with high speed expectations and bulging wallets. According to OCZ, Thunderbolt’s low latency and accurate time synchronization make for a drive that can be used for pro-level A/V editing, working with source files saved directly on the external storage.

From our time with the LaCie Little Big Disk SSD we know that’s a realistic prospect, but the Lightfoot has the benefit of being more pocket-sized and suited for mobile users. No word on how much it will cost when it launches, but OCZ expects it to go on sale later this year.

[via PC Perspective]

The IdeaPad U310 is 0.7-inches thick and 3.74-pounds, with Intel Core processors paired with GMA 3000 HD graphics powering its HD 16:9 aspect display. The IdeaPad U410, meanwhile, is 0.83-inches thick and 4.18-pounds, with processors from the same Intel range but paired this time with NVIDIA GeForce 610M 1GB graphics.

Each supports Intel WiDi for wireless display streaming, and they’ll come in a choice of “fun colors”: Aqua Blue, Cherry Blossom, Graphite Gray, Ruby Red, Sapphire Blue and Spearmint. Software-wise it’s Windows 7 with Lenovo’s Smart Update tool, which automatically keeps your mailbox, IM and social media messages up to date, even when the IdeaPad is in sleep mode.

Battery life is up to eight hours, Lenovo claims. The Lenovo IdeaPad U Series will go on sale in May, priced from $699.

An Intel Core processor lurks inside, paired with an SSD, while a “MagicFlip I/O port panel” hides behind the screen hinge and – when pressed – pops open to reveal the HDMI, USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt connectivity. There’s also Dolby Home Theater v4 sound and a PowerSmart battery, which Acer says has a 3x longer battery cycle life than rival power packs.

Chicklet keys and an Onyx Black “delicately curved” chassis, along with a magnesium-aluminum alloy cover and palmrest keep things looking slick in your bag or on your desk. No word on pricing at this stage, but the Acer Aspire S5 will begin shipping in Q2 2012.

Update: Image added and live images here.

The OCZ Deneva 2 mSATA SSDs are touted as being faster, more efficient, smaller, and lighter as well as more reliable, longer-lasting, and secure. They are much lighter than traditional SSDs, weighing about 10 times less than a standard SSD and 15 times less than a conventional 2.5-inch hard drive. Their ultra thin profile allows them to fit into dimensions less than 21mm thick.

The Deneva 2 mSATA SSD series also includes SATA 3.0 and 120GB versions, but those have not been Intel certified for ultrabooks yet. The models certified are the D2CSTEMS1A10-0030 and D2CSTEMS1A10-0060. The series boasts max read speeds of up to 280MB/s, max write speeds of up to 260MB/s, and up to 32,000 4K random write iOPS.

[via TheVerge]

LG says that’s a matter of “powerful performance and sleek design unseen in ordinary ultrabooks” though we’ll have to wait until we get some hands-on playtime before we can judge quite how successful the company has actually been on those fronts. The Z330 has a 13.3-inch 1366 x 768 LED-backit display, a choice of Intel Core i3, i5 or i7 processors, 4GB of DDR3 memory and HD 3000 graphics, along with either a 120GB or 256GB SSD, 10/100 ethernet, WiFi b/g/n and Bluetooth 3.0+HS.

The LG Z430 boosts the display to a 14-inch panel, though running at the sam resolution as its smaller sibling, and increases the maximum supported RAM to 8GB. Storage is different too, with a standard 500GB HDD paired with an optional 16GB or 128GB of SSD storage; we’re guessing the 16GB is used for speedy resume, just as with Samsung’s Series 5.

Ports on both models include a multiformat memory card reader, single USB 3.0, two USB 2.0 and HDMI, along with audio in/out. There’s a 1.3-megapixel webcam and a 4-cell battery, though LG isn’t talking runtimes yet. The Z330 measures in at 315.4 x 214.7 x 14.7 mm and 1.21kg, while the Z440 is a little larger at 329.4 x 226 x 19.9 mm and 1.5kg.

No word on pricing at this stage.

Although neither company has yet officially confirmed the deal, Israel’s Prime Minister seems to have decided it’s all legitimate enough to comment. “Welcome to Israel, Apple Inc. on your 1st acquisition here” the official Twitter feed said earlier today, “I’m certain that you’ll benefit from the fruit of the Israeli knowledge.”

Anobit’s speciality is its “Memory Signal Processing“ (MSP) tech, signal processing algorithms that promise “a dramatic improvement” in speed, longevity and system cost in addition to various complex error correction and flash memory management systems. MSP is included in both Anobit’s MSP20xx embedded flash controllers for tablets and phones – supporting up to 256GB of flash – as well as in the company’s Genesis-branded enterprise SSDs.

“MSP enables SLC (one bit-per-cell) endurance and performance with MLC (two bits-per-cell) NAND, and MLC endurance and performance with TLC (three bits-per-cell) NAND, resulting in a significant reduction in cost per-bit” Anobit

According to 9 to 5 Mac, Apple is yet to formally bring Anobit’s exec team into the fold, but that is likely to happen soon. Apple is rumored to be considering replacing all traditional drives in its future MacBook Pro models with solid-state storage.

“Samsung employees joining Seagate include a number of senior managers and design-engineering employees from Samsung’s Korea facility,” the two companies have confirmed, “who will focus on development of small form-factor products for the mobile compute market.” The exact nature of those SFF products is unclear at this stage.

Hard-drives currently found in Samsung’s line-up will, in some cases, continue to be available with the same branding for the next 12 months. Those with Samsung drives still under warranty will continue to be covered for that period, of course.

However, moving forward Seagate has slashed its warranty period on certain drives, a shift it describes as keeping the company’s offering in line with what the rest of the market promises. Some models have been trimmed down to a single year, while others have been curtailed to three years.

Although Intel is best known for its processor line-up, with chips for everything from performance desktops through notebook sand ultraportables and into low-power netbooks and embedded devices, the company also has a solid-state drive division. Intel’s SSDs and NAND flash storage has received positive reviews in general, and found its way into several enterprise data centers, though relatively high prices still mean HDDs dominate the storage marketplace.

A shortage of HDDs, however, could help turn that around. “So far we have not seen a big uptake in demand for SSDs” Smith conceded this week, ZDNet reports, going on to suggest that “I do expect that to happen.”

“I think that it will be one of the ways that the industry helps offset some of the HDD shortage; and I also think if you go out towards the end of 2012, and you think about notebook computer at the end of 2012, which is very thin, very light, very power efficient, Ultrabook class machine, SSDs become really important in that.” Stacy Smith, CFO, Intel

Intel’s most obvious current strategy for driving SSD adoption is the ultrabook segment, a rebranding of the ultraportable notebook category that mandates such basic features as pairing one of the company’s own processors with solid-state storage, housed in a sub-0.8-inch thick chassis. Several manufacturers have risen to the challenge, including Toshiba, Acer and Lenovo, though so far pricing has kept them out of the mainstream.

What makes Anobit special is its “Memory Signal Processing” (MSP) technology, a set of signal processing algorithms that, alongside various error correction and flash memory management systems, promises “a dramatic improvement” in longevity, speed and overall system cost. MSP is included in both Anobit’s MSP20xx embedded flash controllers for phones and tablets – which support up to 256GB of flash each – and a line of Genesis enterprise SSDs.

“MSP enables SLC (one bit-per-cell) endurance and performance with MLC (two bits-per-cell) NAND, and MLC endurance and performance with TLC (three bits-per-cell) NAND, resulting in a significant reduction in cost per-bit” Anobit

Anobit’s tech is also believed to be in the Hynix flash modules supplied for the iPhone 4S, and the company recently secured a $76m investment round from companies including Intel Capital, the chip firm’s venture division.

Neither Apple nor Anobit have commented publicly on the acquisition talk. However, assuming it pans out to be true, it could well be another step on the path away from Samsung reliance for Apple. The Cupertino company has been working to reduce its dependencies on its Korean rival for some time now, as the firms battle in court over patents and design IP.

[via TechCrunch]

Samsung has outfitted the 14-inch Series 5 with an optical drive, the first ultrabook to be so equipped. Ports on both machines include ethernet and HDMI, while the 20.9mm-thick 14-inch model also has discrete AMD graphics with a Radeon HD7550M GPU. Both use an anti-glare screen coating for improved outdoor visibility.

To be fair, the 14-inch Samsung doesn’t quite fit into Intel’s ultrabook category. The chip manufacturer originally defined the segment as being under 0.8-inches thick (20.3mm), and as having solely SSD storage, and the larger-screened Series 5 is slightly too fat for that. Still, with the SSD, both Series 5 machines can resume from hibernation in under 7s, or from sleep mode in less than 2s.

Samsung will put the Series 5 up for sale in Korea at the end of December, priced at 1,290,000-1,490,000 won ($1,124-1,298) for the 13-inch and 1,340,000-1,540,000 won ($1,168-1,342) for the 15-inch. No word on international launch plans at this stage.

Otherwise specifications remain the same, which means a 17-inch display, 2.8GHz Intel Core i7-2640M processor, and 8GB of 1333MHz DDR3 RAM. Graphics are courtesy of NVIDIA’s GeForce GT 555M with NVIDIA Optimus, paired with their own 2GB of GDDR5 video memory.

More interesting, however, is the compact touchscreen that lives to the side of the backlit keyboard. That works as a secondary display and as a shortcut panel, supporting multitouch gestures, and is topped by ten user-programmable buttons each with their own display, similar to what the Optimus Popularis delivers.

[via The Verge]

There’s a SATA III 6Gbps connection, and speed-freaks should probably opt for the 240GB model if they want the best combination of performance. As the following table – using Super Talent’s own data – suggests, that model leads the TeraNova pack with a 540 MB/s sequential read rate and 520 MB/s sequential write rate. Still, even the lowest write rate is a healthy 480 MB/s.

All that speed will come in handy not just for booting up and shutting down your system – though it’s worth noting that an SSD-equipped notebook can be dramatically faster to load than an HDD-based counterpart – but for storage-intensive apps. Video and audio processing, image editing and the like are all improved using an SSD.

The Super Talent TeraNova begins shipping today, in 60GB, 120GB, 240GB and 480GB capacities. Pricing is yet to be confirmed

There’s also WiFi b/g/n, HDMI, USB 3.0 and Dolby Advanced Audio, along with 9.25 hours battery life from a full charge. Gigabit ethernet and Bluetooth round out the main specs, and the whole thing is said to be semi-ruggedized so that it should stand up to some semi-rough treatment in your rucksack or briefcase.

RRP for the HP Folio 13 is from $900, though thanks to our friends at Logicbuy there’s a $200 deal to be had. Follow their instructions and you can net the Core i5 1.6GHz version for $703.49, an impressive saving if you’re in the market for an ultraportable without an Apple logo.

Inside there’s a choice of Intel’s Core i5-2467M or Core i7-2637M processors, paired with 4GB of RAM and a choice of 120GB SATA 6Gbps SSD or a 256GB SATA 3Gbps SSD. Graphics are courtesy of Intel’s HD GPU, while connectivity includes WiFi b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0+HS, Intel WIDI, USB 3.0 and a microSD card reader.

LG is particularly pushing the Xnote Z330′s rapid boot abilities, with the ultrabook being ready to go in just 7s (resume time). It’ll also shut down quickly too, being off in 9.9s. The company reckons the combination of the speed fettling, the second-gen Intel chips and the SSD storage makes the Z330 20-percent faster at multitasking than its ultraportable predecessors.

Pricing is set at 1.7m – 2.6m Won ($1,509 – $1,863) depending on processor and other specifications when the notebook arrives in South Korea in the middle of this month. No news on when we might see the LG Xnote Z330 arrive in the US.

The tiny SSD measures in at 50.95 x 30 x 2.80 mm and weighs a scant 8g. The little SSD will be used in Samsung’s own performance notebook line. The PM830 comes in 128GB, 64GB, and 32GB capacities in addition to the 256GB capacity. The SSD is very fast with up to 500MB/s sequential reads and up to 260MB/s sequential writes.

That makes the SSD six times faster than a traditional HDD. The SSD also features 256-bit AES encryption to protect data stored on the drive. The small drive uses the SATA 3 6Gbps interface and will be available soon. It’s not clear if the drive will be offered as an upgrade or only to OEMs.

Starting immediately, you can pick up the second generation Seagate Momentus XT solid state hybrid drive at Memory Express, NCIX, Newegg, Canada Computers, CDW, and TigerDirect for $245 MSRP. Inside you’ll find that your Serial ATA 6Gb/second interface and 8 gigabytes of Single Level Cell NAND flash both double the NAND and interface read-write speeds of the previous generation Seagate drive, and a design which makes for a simple upgrade for any compatible laptop or desktop computer.

It’s Seagate’s Adaptive Memory and FAST Factory technologies that make this drive the real masterpiece in Seagate’s line of drives. FAST Factory technology take the strengths of hard disk drives and SSDs and combines them for quicker bootup, higher system speed, and faster access to all applications on your computer. Adaptive Memory works with you, the user, to learn your work patterns and move your most frequently retrieved information to solid state memory for fast access.

Have a look here at the Momentus XT 750GB SSHD working on a 13-inch MacBook Pro with a 2.7 GHz i7 processor and 4 GB of RAM running OS X Lion 10.7. You’ll see three different drives running here in a simple working test: a stock 5400 RPM HDD, a stock Apple SSD, and the new Momentus XT.

Next see a test of a Dell 15z complete with a 2.3GHz i5 processor, 6GB of RAM, and Windows 7 Professional. The test drives here are a stock Dell 7200 RPM HDD, an Intel 320 series SSD, and the new Momentus XT.

Finally see a Dell Optiplex 980 running a 2.6GHz Intel Pentium processor, 1GB or RAM, and Windows 7 Professional, with the two test drives being the new Momentus XT and a WD Velociraptor 10K HDD. Just like the other tests, you’ll find the Seagate contender to be most impressive.

Let us know what you think of this new drive, if you’ll pick one up, and if you think everyone else should (or shouldn’t) as well!

While the OSZ Octane has been promised to achieve read / write speeds of 560MB/s for reading and 400MB/s for writing, it appears that reviewers have found this to be not all that far off from the truth. Have a peek at the specifications in this new OCZ offering first, then see what the real deal is.

OCZ Octane Specs
128GB (OCT1-25SAT3-128G) $199.99 ($1.56/GB)
256GB (OCT1-25SAT3-256G) $369.99 ($1.45/GB)
512GB (OCT1-25SAT3-512G) $879.99 ($1.72/GB)
1TB (OCT1-25SAT3-1TG)

• 512GB Formatted Capacity: 476.94GB
• Indilinx Everest platform
• Up to 560MB/s Read (1TB Capacity)
• Up to 400MB/s Write (512GB and 1TB Capacity)
• 512MB Onboard Cache
• 25nm Intel Synchronous NAND
• TRIM Support
• SATA 6Gb/s interface
• NCQ Support up to 32 Queue Depth
• 9.5mm, 2.5″ form factor
• Dynamic & Static Wear-Leveling, and Background Garbage Collection
• 8 channels with up to 16-way Interleaving
• Power Consumption: 1.98W active, 1.15W standby

Let’s have a look at a few different perspectives here, each from different sides of the internets, starting with PC Perspective’s Allyn Malventano who comments on both the contents of the package and the size along with a couple results in a chart below:

“The Octane comes packaged like many other SSD’s out there, with a few extra presents like the “My SSD is faster than your HDD” sticker seen with Vertex units. … 1TB – in a 2.5″ form factor SSD! HDD’s hit this mark not too long ago, and while a 1TB Octane will most certainly cost a pretty penny, there’s something to be said for SSD’s so rapidly catching up to HDD’s for a given form factor. … Octane did well in sequential transfers with HDTach, but remember this particular test hits drives with a string of sequential (QD=1) IO, a notorious weakness of SandForce controllers.” – Malventano

Next see what Kevin OBrien of Storage Review had to say on another synthetic benchmark test by the name of Iometer, with the single chart showing off a Workstation 4K model profile, with results below:

“Our last section of synthetic benchmarks looks at the performance of each drive in enterprise profiles, including database, webserver, file server, and workstation. One of the main benefits of this test over other synthetic benchmarks is the mixed workload with both read and write transfers as well as varied transfer sizes at the same time. These are also scaled from a queue depth of 1 to 128 to fully stress the drive in a demanding environment. As you can see below the OCZ Octane stayed close to the group in the lower queue depths, but couldn’t scale up as high under a multi-threaded workload; although it did manage to stay above the Crucial m4 in all but the webserver test.” – OBrien

Then of course no review series based mainly in benchmarks would be complete without a visit by Anandtech’s Anand Lal Shimpi himself. Check out Anand’s review for a rather in-depth and interesting story on the history of OCZ if you like, otherwise just read this snippet on how well the drive works with their heavy workload test:

“When put to the test the Octane does not disappoint. It’s within a couple MB/s of the SF-2281 based Vertex 3, and effectively one of the fastest 6Gbps drives on the market today. I included the old Indilinx Barefoot based Corsair Nova V128 to show just how far Indilinx has come here.” – Anand

Look like a winner to you?

The two notebooks don’t seem to have been announced before. They’re dubbed Dalmore 15 and Dalmore 14 with model numbers P19F and P25G. The FCC diagrams reveal that the backside of the notebooks are about as thick as an Ethernet port, which pegs them at about 15 to 20mm thick. In addition to the Ethernet port, they also feature HDMI, a mini-dsiplay port, as well as a couple USB ports. A SATA Flash label on the notebook reveals that it will use SSD.

The frame of the notebooks also feature an interesting design that isn’t seen in any of Dell’s current models, suggesting that this could be part of a completely new line. The backside is flat but then angles slightly at the corners reminiscent of the angular corner design we’ve seen on the Motorola XOOM 2 tablet.

[via Wireless Goodness]

Hardware

LaCie’s design language hasn’t changed much over the years: looks-wise, the Little Big Disk is basically a squatter version of the Ethernet Disk NAS we reviewed back in 2007. That’s no bad thing when you’re talking about sturdy aluminum and a big blue LED, however, and at 5.5 x 3.3 x 1.6 inches it has a reasonably small footprint on your desk (LaCie includes a detachable stand, though it’s capable of standing on its own without it). At 1.4 pounds, however, it’s not light, and the wall-wart PSU is comparatively bulky, so those planning to travel with the Little Big Disk should expect some heft in their bag.

Physical controls are limited to the blue LED “eye” which doubles as a power button: hold it down for a few seconds and the drive shuts down. On the back there are two Thunderbolt ports, a power socket and a Kensington lock hole; we’d like to have seen a legacy connection, like USB, considering how few computers have Thunderbolt so far. That way colleagues still idling in the slow-lane could still grab files in a pinch. There’s also a small fan, which adjusts speed based on temperature, though the whole chassis is intended to function as a hefty heat-sink.

Thunderbolt is the launch name for Intel’s Light Peak, a super-fast next-generation interconnectivity standard that supports – in this first iteration – up to 10 Gb/s independent uplink and downlink of data and video channels. Apple has been the first to adopt the standard, adding Thunderbolt to its MacBook Pro notebooks and Mac mini and iMac desktops. Up to six Thunderbolt peripherals can be daisy-chained off a single port – hence the LaCie sporting a pair of them – and since it’s backward compatible with DisplayLink you can connect a monitor, too.

All that speed needs equally fast drives to make the most of it, and while LaCie already has a Little Big Disk on the market with traditional HDD storage, our review unit is the faster 240GB SSD version. Inside there’s a pair of 120GB Intel 320 Series third-gen (SSDSA2CW120G3) solid-state drives, set up as a RAID 0 “striped” volume. While many associate home RAID setups as a way of protecting data with drive redundancy, RAID 0 is all about speed: the two SSDs combine for 239.38GB of indecently fast storage, though of course if one drive fails then the entire volume is lost. It’s possible to reformat the Little Big Disk for data mirroring instead, though in that case you only get 120GB of capacity.

Performance

We tested the Little Big Disk with an early 2011 MacBook Pro, running Snow Leopard with the latest patches and fitted with 4GB of RAM, a 2GHz Core i7 processor and an aftermarket 240GB OCX Vertex2 SSD. Installation was straightforward: plug in the LaCie and it’s automatically mounted as an external drive.

Benchmarking kicked off with a basic speed test, using OS X app Blackmagic. The Little Big Disk managed 487.9 MB/s read rates and 257.7 MB/s write rates, a frankly eye-watering pace that even slightly exceeds LaCie’s own estimates. That’s still well short on what Thunderbolt can carry, mind.

We then turned to some file transfer tests, to see whether real-world performance lived up too. First, we copied a range of files from the Mac to the LaCie: a 1GB file took 5.34 seconds to transfer, while a 5GB file took 19.01 seconds. A folder amounting to 5GB of separate files took 26.65 seconds. In the opposite direction, a 1GB file copied from the Little Big Disk to the Mac took 13.25 second, while a 5GB single file took 21.53 seconds. It was clear that the bottleneck for Little Big Disk performance was our own test Mac, with the OCZ SSD unable to keep up with the RAID 0 array’s potential.

One of Apple and LaCie’s boasts is the flexibility for multitasking inherent in Thunderbolt: you can do multiple things across the same connection simultaneously. We started up iMovie, encoding a Full HD video straight to the Little Big Disk using 1080p source files stored on the drive itself, and then tried transferring a separate 5GB file across to the LaCie too. That file took just 19.86 seconds to copy. LaCie says you’ll get even faster performance if you daisy-chain multiple units together – four will just about reach Thunderbolt’s potential, the company reckons – though we couldn’t test that out.

The Little Big Disk never got more than mildly warm during heavy use – another benefit of the solid-state storage – but LaCie’s tiny fan did its best to make itself heard. It’s not so much loud as it is shrill, at full speed, though the combination of SSDs and heat-sink styling meant the enclosure quickly reached a point where the fan could slow down again.

Pricing

No shortage of performance, then, but none of that comes cheap. The SSD-based Little Big Disk will launch at $899/€849/£749, working out to a hefty $3.75 per gigabyte. In contrast, LaCie offers a 1TB version of the Little Big Disk using 7,200 rpm traditional hard-drives for $399.95, though with “only” up to 190 MB/s transfer rates. Somewhat galling is the fact that you still have to pay $49 for Apple’s Thunderbolt cable.

Wrap-Up

Most on the SlashGear team agree that swapping from HDD to SSD has the biggest everyday impact on computing smoothness, compared to RAM or even processor. Until now, though, external storage – even external SSDs – has been hampered by connectivity.

What makes the LaCie Little Big Disk SSD so special is that, for high-bitrate multimedia editing, it’s just as fast for apps to use as internal storage, if not faster. No lag while iMovie accesses your removable drive, just 240GB of extra space which you can treat just as you do your regular disk. Sure, you could use it for backup if you wanted (it’s natively Time Machine compatible) or to store your MP3 collection, but that would be hugely wasteful of its talents.

For most, the huge sticker price will be a turn-off; capacity-junkies will sniff at the relatively paltry 240GB. Those who take their music and video editing seriously, though, and who want more storage without a speed compromise, need to have the LaCie Little Big Disk on their desk.

Exact specifications for each model are unknown, but they are likely to include backlit keyboards, ThunderBolt high-speed ports, an SD card reader, USB, audio and ethernet, just like the existing MacBook Pro models. Apple’s update last week boosted processor speed as well as making some graphics chip changes on select models, though the company is yet to shift the Pros wholesale from traditional HDD to SSD storage.

It’s also unclear what might happen to the 13-inch MacBook Pro, which until a few refresh cycles ago was the unibody MacBook. With the Pro and Air lines believed to be converging in terms of style and capabilities, it’s possible that Apple could axe the 13-inch Pro altogether and leave that section of the market to be occupied solely by the ultraportable Air.

TUAW has heard that the new MacBook Pro line could be on the market by Christmas, with Apple bringing a strong challenge to Intel Ultrabooks. No word on pricing at this stage.

Both of the SSDs use the Indilinx Everest-bases controller. Using that controller platform the SSDs can deliver up to 560MB/s of bandwidth and 45,000 IOPS. The series also has proprietary mapping algorithms that allows for steady mixed-workload performance. The SSDs also use the Indilinx NDurance tech to increase the lifespan of the NAND.

The Octane has a dual-core CPU for the controller with up to a 512MB cache. The SSDs come in 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB capacity. The SATA 3.0 version of the Octane is good for 560MB/s read and 400MB/s write performance. The Octane-S2 on the SATA 2.0 port is good for read up to 275MB/s and write at up to 265MB/s. Write access times are as low as 0.06ms. The line will launch next month at undisclosed pricing.

The M2P SSDs come in 128GB and 256GB flavors and are the second series of SSDs that Plextor has announced this year. The SSDs have random read speed of 70,000 IOPS and a random write speed of 65,000 IOPS. The controller chip inside the SSD is a Marvell 88SS9174 and the SSD supports SATA III 6Gb/s interfaces.

Plextor claims that the SSDs have the lowest average annual failure rate in the industry. The SSD bundles come with free upgrade software and a 3.5-inch bracket for putting the SSD inside a desktop. Plextor will be launching the M2P line in the UK this month with the 128GB version selling for about £200 inc VAT and the 256GB version selling for £383 inc VAT.

ioFusion says that the new ioDrive2 has nearly symmetrical read and write access with the best low queue depth performance in the class. The low latency for mixed workloads and 15 microsecond write latency make the drive very fast. The ioDrive2 is capable of over 700,000 read IOPS and over 900,000 write IOPS.

The maximum capacity that can be fit inside the little PCIe SSD is 2.4TB making it fast and high capacity. The new drive also has a self healing feature called Adaptive FlashBack that has complete chip-level fault tolerance. That feature allows the ioMemory to repair itself after a single chip or multiple chip failure. The drive has support for all major operating systems. The ioDrive2 will come in 365 GB, 785 GB, 1205 GB and 2.4 TB starting in late November with pricing starting at $5,950.

“By selectively storing the block of data in the flash memory, the hybrid storage device can address the sensitivity of the HDD to changes in the environmental state of the hybrid storage device. For example, if the change in the environmental state information results in an operating state of the HDD in which failure or shut down of the HDD is to occur during the write operation, or if there is an imminent risk of data loss during the write operation, the write operation can be completed using the flash memory. Therefore, this storage technique can increase the reliability of the hybrid storage device” Apple patent application

As Apple describes it, the hybrid drive could quickly save data to the flash section if it detected it needed to suddenly lock down the platters such as during a fall. Alternatively, if drive temperature exceeded a preset “safe” level, the platters could spin down and the flash storage be used as a temporary cache until they had cooled once more.

Hybrid hard-drive technology isn’t new, and several manufacturers already have products that pair spinning platters and solid-state memory. Perhaps best known is Seagate’s Momentus XT – which we reviewed all the way back in July 2010 - though the primary purpose of the combined storage is usually expressed as a matter of speed.

That would also be a benefit of Apple’s system, the company recognizes – “the external device may be able to improve performance by leveraging the relative performance capabilities of HDD and flash memory” – though it’s possible the focus is on longevity so as to suitably differentiate the patent application from prior art. Whether that will fly with the USPTO remains to be seen, but we wouldn’t be surprised if future MacBook Pro models incorporated a cost-effective balance of hybrid storage rather than the wholesale shift to expensive SSDs that some have predicted.

[via PatentlyApple; image via iFixit]

The Little Big Disk with Thunderbolt will be available in both SSD and HDD versions. The SSD version will feature a 240GB SSD RAID option and has been demonstrated to peak at read speeds of 634MBps, reaching up to 870MBps when daisy chained to a second drive.

The HDD version will feature two 2.5-inch drives with RAID option in either 1TB or 2TB configurations. The 1TB version will feature 7200RPM drives whereas the 2TB version will have 5400RPM drives, which can get up to 190MBps read speeds and can reach up to 782MBps when four drives are connected.

For more images and a video of the LaCie Little Big Disk with Thunderbolt, make sure to check out our hands-on with the device. The HDD version is available now online at the Apple Store, with the 1TB version priced at $400 and the 2TB version at $500. The SSD version will arrive sometime in October, but pricing for it is not confirmed yet.

The special high Endurance Technology in the NAND chosen provides SLC endurance with the value of MLC NAND inside the SSD. Intel says that its SSD 710 series MLC NAND is almost on par with the MLC NAND but costs less. The write endurance for the SSD is almost 1.1 petabytes. The SSD is for I/O starved applications and has a 4K random write performance of up to 2700 IOPS.

The SSD is also designed with security features like enhanced data loss protection and the SSD has surplus NAND flash inside for system protection in case a NAND die fails. The SSD also has 128-bit AES encryption to protect the data. Prices for the SSDs start at $649 for the 100GB SSD, the 200GB is $1,289, and the 300GB is $1,929 based on 100 unit quantities.

The SandForce DuraClass tech inside the SSD is what makes this new model so appealing for business types. The KC100 is said to be the only business-equipped SSD to provide users with enterprise-level S.M.A.R.T. attributes. That allows the drives to be monitored for usage stats, health and life stage using industry standard and available S.M.A.R.T. monitoring tools.

The SSD is also self-encrypting and features full and instant client-level data encryption. The drive sports dual embedded encryption engines with both AES-128 and AES-256 encryption that is preformed at the drive level without putting a strain on the host system or slowing data rates. The SSD comes in 120GB, 240GB, and 480GB capacities with the drive alone or in a bundle upgrade kit. Performance is up to 555MB/s sequential read and up to 510MB/s sequential write.

On the right side of this device you’re going to find a full SD card slot, at the back you’ll find a power port, full sized HDMI port, and two USB ports, and on the left side you’ll find a headphone socket — aka this laptop is very basic in its connectivity scope. Inside you’ll find a full sized chicklet keyboard with Dolby home theater support, and a full trackpad front and center. Atop the display you’ll find an Acer Crystal Eye 1.3 megapixel camera and mic able to connect you with some video chat via Wi-fi provided by Acer InviLink Nplify 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi CERTIFIED technology – plus there’s some brand new Bluetooth 4.0+HSR tech in there for good measure.

Two features this laptop holds that are certainly selling points for the platform are Acer Green Instant On and Acer Instant Connect. The former of these two innovations is one that provides you with two modes of sleep for your laptop: Sleep and Deep Sleep. From Sleep mode, your computer will be able to boot back up to full capabilities in 1.5 seconds. Should your computer go into Deep Sleep mode, you’ll be able to resume in just 6 seconds. Because this laptop is able to go into this advanced Deep Sleep mode, it’s able to stay super low on battery consumption, allowing this computer’s up time, Acer says, to last 50 days – of course you’ll probably want to open the computer up every once in a while too, so more than likely 50 days is the max, but still! Pretty cool. Acer Instant Connect, on the other hand, has more to do with the internet, providing you with access to the web in just 2.5 seconds — how and under what circumstances being a few notes we’ll have to expand upon once we get to review this device in full.

The Acer A3 will be priced between €799 and €1199 with USA prices forthcoming, and will be rolling out in select regions in September with a ramp-up in productions come October. This laptop is expected to become Acer’s star product during the fourth quarter of 2011.

This is one of several of Intel’s new Ultrabooks, the Lenovo IdeaPad U300S [hands-on video] and the Toshiba Portege Z830 [hands-on video] rounding out the bunch presented here at IFA 2011. What these devices are targeted at is the market currently being dominated by the MacBook Air. Compared here (and in the video in this post) are the MacBook Air and the Acer Aspire S3 Ultrabook.

The newest 2nd-gen MacBook Air runs either a core i5 or a core i7 processor while the Aspire S3 in this case is running a core i7 processor. The thickness between these two shows the Acer S3 to be considerably thicker, the MacBook Air sizing in at 0.68-inches at its thickest point while the S3, even though its official specs say it’s 0.51 inches, can be seen to be, indeed, thicker than the Air here. The rest of the size bits here on these 13-inch models from each line, the Acer laptop ends up being a bit wider than the Mac, this sizing reflected in the weight of either device at 2.38 lbs for the Mac and 3 lbs for the Acer – certainly not a whole HECK of a lot of difference, but it is there!

As far as ports, both device has the same number of USB ports, a headphone jack, power port, SD card port – where they differ is in the display port, the MacBook Air giving you a mini display port / Thunderbolt port while the Acer gives you a full sized HDMI. It’s sort of like choosing between buying a DVD or a Blu-Ray disk at the moment, where HDMI is certainly still a viable option and works on many many platforms, Mac’s Thunderbolt port may well be the way of the future. As far as the keyboards go, both devices are fairly similar in their sizing and abilities save for the MacBook’s trackpad which is slightly larger and more advanced due to gesture-related abilities included in the laptop’s current operating system Mac OS X Lion. Speakers MAY be better with the Dolby Home Theater options available on the Acer device here but we’re not sure quite yet since we’ve not gotten to review a unit – as for that and the rest of the compare-ables we’ll have to wait until a full review situation arrives.

Until then! Which one would you choose if given the choice?

The SSD is offered in several different storage capacities including 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB. All of the capacities use the same hardware with JEDEC MO-300B mSATA spec support and a Jmicron JMF605 4-channel controller. The drives interface with the SATA-II 4Gbps interface and use MLC NAND inside. The SSDs sip power to help extend the battery life of the device they are plugged into.

Other features include ECC for reliability, bad bit management to prevent errors, and a wear leveling algorithm to help extend the usable life of the SSD. The SSDs come with a screwdriver and an installation guide to help you perform the upgrade. The sequential write speed for the drives is up to 80MB/sec and sequential read is up to 160MB/sec. The 16GB SSD is $74.95, the 32GB version is $94.95, and the 64GB version is $189.95.

The new SSD uses a SandForce controller and supports the SATA 6Gb/s port. OWC also claims to use the highest quality components it can get hands on with tier 1, grade A NAND and that shows with the claimed read and write speeds of the SSD. OWC claims that the little SSD can deliver 556MB/s reads and 523MB/s writes.

The SSDs will work with PC or Mac computers. The SSD is also offered in other capacities as well if you need something larger than 60GB. Also available are 120GB, 240GB, and 480GB storage drives. The drives use ECC and SandForce RAISE technology inside for data protection and reliability.
You can buy the SSDs right now.

Samsung isn’t talking about specific data rates yet – those figures won’t be released until October, the company says, when the 830 series gets its “official launch” – but the promise is a significantly faster experience than what we’ve seen from its SSDs before. Four versions will go on sale initially, sized from 64GB through 128GB and 256GB, and topping out at 512GB.

They’ll be bundled with a 2.5-inch to 3.5-inch drive bay adapter and a USB to SATA adapter cable in the upgrade packages. No word on pricing at this stage, though given the RRP of the last-gen 256GB 470 series drive was $550 at launch, we’re not expecting these new 830 series drives to be much different.

Samsung expects that the new PM830 SSD will replace SATA 3Gb/s SSDs by the end of 2011. According to Samsung, the new SSD with the 6Gb/s interface shortens boot time to about ten seconds. The drive also has enough performance to allow the user to download up to five DVD video files in under a minute. The 512GB SSD uses Samsungs most advanced 20nm class 32-gigabit MLC NAND memory chip inside with a toggle DDR interface and a proprietary NAND controller.

The SSD promises sequential read speeds of up to 500MB/s with sequential write speeds of 350MB/s. The SSD also has security features to protect your data with AES 256-bit encryption. Other than the 512GB capacity SSD Samsung will also offer the drive in 256GB and 128GB versions and all three capacities will be offered for OEM notebooks and tablets.

The upgrade kit can be had with SSDs packing in a range of storage capacities. One kit has a 64GB SSD for $169. The mid-range kit is a 128GB SSD for $289. The high-end kit is a 256GB SSD and it sells for $739. The upgrade kits include all the stuff you need to swap your drive for the new SSD and get your data onto the new SSD.

Along with the SSD itself, the upgrade kits also come with a cloning adapter for moving your data over, a mini screwdriver, and an illustrated instruction book. The cloning adapter allows the transfer of data from the old drive to the new drive using a USB port. The SSDs has transfer speeds up to 130MB/s. The upgrade kits are available now.

The Optimus SSD uses a Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) 6Gb/s interface that offers 1000MB/s read speeds and 500MB/s write speeds. It comes in capacities of 200GB, 400GB, 800GB, and 1.6TB. And, since it’s targeting the enterprise market, it also promises to be fail-safe with an added range of technologies, including FlashGuard, DriveGuard, and EverGuard, to ensure the safety of your data and the longevity of the drive. Smart Modular even offers a 5-year warranty.

No pricing information has been revealed yet, although it’s certainly going to be a figure that will keep us loyal to our standard hard drives. However, the technologies introduced with the Optimus SSD will likely trickle down eventually for consumers, making this a nice preview of what’s ahead.

[via Geek]

You’ll find that these units retain their predecessors PCIe-based form factor and beyond power choices, will be shipped in two standard configurations: one half height version for space constrained 1U servers and multi-node rack-mount servers and a separate full-height version. OCZ notes that their lovely new Z-Drive R4 is a unique combination of hardware and software solutions tied to integrated VCA 2.0. This VCA 2.0 being a multifaceted virtualization layer works well with full DMA (direct memory access) cores as well as internal PCIe, SAS, and SATA physical interfaces.

VCA 2.0 furthermore enables user-selectable data recovery and non-stop modes with IntegRecover technology that’ll keep your mind at ease when working with exactly what this piece of hardware is meant for: enterprise solutions. OCZ VCA 2.0 supports the SCSI command set over a PCIe interface, this being the industry-standard, and other features include consoledted SMART support, TRIM/SCSI Unmap support, and increased NAND flash life due to OCZ’s lower write amplification and the TRIM/SCSI Unmap support again.

SO! Go out there and grab em up!

The SSD is a drop-in solution that will slip right inside your existing machine for an upgrade in performance and possibly battery life on a notebook without having to replace the entire machine. The Ultra SSD has fast 280MB/s sequential read speed and 270MB/s sequential write speed. The random speeds hit up to 3Gb/s.

The Ultra SSD uses the SATAII interface and will allow for faster booting and application launching as well. SanDisk claims the MTBF for the SSD is up to 1 million hours. The SSD will be offered in 60GB, 120GB, and 240GB capacities. The MSRP for the SSDs is $129.99, $219.99, and $449.99 respectively. All capacities are available right now at Newegg and other retailers.

[via SanDisk]