Santa Clara, Calif. — Intel Corp. has released an ultra-small solid-state drive (SSD) that delivers Intel X25-class SSD performance in one-eighth the size. The Intel SSD 310 Series measures 51 x 30-mm and 5-mm thick, targeting dual-drive notebooks, single-drive tablets and low-power, rugged embedded industrial or military applications. When paired with a high-capacity hard disk drive (HDD) in a dual-drive system, the Intel SSD 310 can improve overall PC system performance by up to 60 percent, said Intel.
The Intel SSD 310 Series contains 34 nanometer (nm) Intel NAND flash memory and is available in an m-SATA form factor in 40 gigabyte (GB) and 80GB capacities. It supports SATA signals over a PCI Express (PCIe) mini-connector for on-board, compact storage in single-drive netbooks, tablets or handheld devices. Weighing 10 grams, the compact size also enables dual drive all-in-ones, notebooks or small-form-factor (SFF) desktops to help accelerate boot time and access to frequently used applications or files, said Intel.
“The Intel SSD 310 series will allow us to provide the advantages of a full-performance Intel SSD paired with the storage of a hard disk drive in a small, dual-drive system,” said Tom Butler, director of ThinkPad product marketing, Lenovo, in a statement. “We’ve offered Intel SSD solutions for our highly innovative Lenovo ThinkPad laptops for some time, and now we’re looking forward to incorporating this new solution across our ThinkPad line.”
The Intel SSD 310 Series also has been selected by DRS Technologies for a new ARMOR communications tablet PC to be unveiled at Storage Visions in Las Vegas. The ARMOR mobile and field unit tablet PC is certified by DRS to work in extreme temperatures and hold up to shock, vibration and drops, delivering up to nine hours of operating time.
Pricing: $99 for the 40-GB capacity and $179 for the 8-0GB version, both in quantities of 1,000-unit quantities.