Dell is offering a 1.8-inch 32GB solid state drive (SSD) from SanDisk on Latitude D420 ultra-mobile and D620 ATG notebooks.

An SSD is a hard drive alternative based on flash memory. Unlike a traditional HDD which uses spinning discs and read/write heads, a SSD is designed with flash memory with no moving parts. The new drive has the same shape and size as a HDD and uses the same connectors for integration into existing systems.

Engineering tests show that the SSD has an operating shock tolerance of up to 1,300Gs, which is twice the rating of mechanical drives, noted Dell. In addition, the drives are predicted to reduce the probability of failure by three-and-a-half times compared to standard mechanical drives. This will help reduce costs associated with hard drive failures, which analyst firm Gartner reports is one of two top sources of system malfunctions in notebooks and accounts for up to 45% of total hardware failures, Dell pointed out.

The new drives can also increase system performance by up to 23% and decreases boot time by up to 34% compared to traditional HDDs available with the Latitude D420 and D620 ATG, according to Dell's figures.

The SSD drives are available now at a list price of US$549 in markets in the Americas. Availability will soon follow in Europe and Asia.

By: DocMemory
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