Samsung to sample 256 GB solid state drive in late Q3

The Korean electronics maker showed off its biggest and fastest SSD in the 2.5" category, bringing its solid state hard drives ever closer to its HDDs in capacity.

Samples of the drive will go out to Samsung's clients in September, with release targeted for the end of the year. Also in development is a 1.8-inch version of the same drive, which is slated for fourth quarter 2008 availability.

Drive manufacturers have spent a lot of time recently on SSD. SanDisk was one of the first to come out with drives commercially in 32 and 64 GB capacities, but the small size and high price have limited adoption.

The technology is alluring, as it promises many advantages: First, power consumption is much lower, allowing for increased battery life in laptop deployments. Second, the lack of moving parts means a decreased risk of mechanical failure and an improved resistance to shock.

Possibly most attractive about SSDs is the allure of memory being technically faster than spinning platters -- a bone of contention for Samsung's and Toshiba's competition in the conventional HDD space, including Seagate. Samsung and several other companies this year have already introduced half-terabyte 2.5" HDDs, but solid state drives are gaining momentum.

Apple's MacBook Air uses a solid-state drive from Samsung, but it only is 64 GB in capacity and comes with a price tag ($3,098 USD) nearly twice of its HDD-based twin. Other laptops have come out with SSDs, but are similarly high priced.

Samsung's 256 GB drive measures in at 2.5 inches, and according to the company, will have a read speed of 200 MB/s, and writes at 160 MB/s. The question of whether that refers to sustained transfer rate is up in the air; conventional HDD manufacturers have been known to tout their interface transfer speeds (such as SATA II's 3 GB/s) as transfer rates, when expert builders know better. Power consumption comes in at just under a watt when in use.

With measurements of 9.5mm (.37 inch) in thickness, Samsung's drive could conceivably fit inside the MacBook Air, although the company has not specifically mentioned any applications for the drive yet.

Samsung's projected ramp up comes at a good time for the SSD industry in general: From now until 2012, the market is expected to see as much as 124% annual growth.