(Click here for larger image)According to Samsung, the Q1P SSD boots 25 to 50 percent faster than comparable systems employing a traditional hard drive. Overall system performance is also said to be greatly enhanced, with read rates three times as fast (53 MB/sec) and writes 150 percent as fast (28 MB/sec) as rotating-media drives. Battery life is also improved, as the flash-based storage requires less power than conventional rotational drives.
Other than the flash-based storage, the SSD has specs virtually identical to its immediate predecessor, the Q1P:
- Pentium M ULV processor, clocked at 1.0 GHz
- Intel i915GMS chipset
- 1GB DDRII 533 RAM
- 7-inch, 800 x 480 resolution WVGA touchscreen display
- Expansion -- Type II CompactFlash card
- I/O Ports:
- 10/100 Ethernet
- 2 USB 2.0
- VGA connector
- audio -- 2 speakers (4W total), array microphone
- Wireless:
- 802.11b/g WiFi
- Bluetooth 2.0
- Dimensions -- 9.0 x 5.5 x 1.0 inches (228 x 140 x 25.4 mm)
- Weight -- 1.7 lb
The Q1P SSD UMPC is immediately available, priced at $2,000 in the U.S. market, according to Samsung. Additionally, the Q1P with a conventional hard drive is priced at $1,300, and the
original Q1 is still available but has a reduced price of $1,000, the company said.
Also this week, flash memory pioneer SanDisk
began shipping its first 32GB, ATA-interfaced, SSD, a 1.8-inch device that is expected to add around $600 to the retail price of systems that use it.
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