It looks like little SSDs are becoming much bigger, that is physical size and capacity respectively. Mushkin just announced the world’s first 480GB mSATA drive.
The idea is simple, take an mSATA drive with it’s tiny form factor, about 50mm by 30mm by 5mm, and stuff almost half a TB of flash in to it. That is what you get with the new Atlas 480GB drive. The web page for it does not seem to be up yet, but it probably doesn’t look much different from the 240GB Atlas found here.
For specs, start with a SandForce/LSI SF-2281 controller, hopefully a B02 stepping, and put it on a PCB about the size of a stick of gum, roughly 8cc in total volume. Mushkin says the controller has un-throttled IOPS, but we weren’t aware that they were throttled other than by the controller model. In any case, add 480GB of MLC and off you go.
All this for only $499. No, that wasn’t a snide comment, sub-$500 for a half TB SSD in that form factor is pretty good, not to mention quite usable capacity in an otherwise silly Ultrabook form factor. If I ever get anything that needs an mSATA drive, this Atlas would make a very worthy addition. You can pick one up in about a month, they go on sale in mid-January.S|A
Charlie Demerjian
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