Joining global efforts to bring affordable personal computers to millions of people in developing nations, SanDisk® Corporation today announced the uSSD™ 5000 solid state drive (SSD), which can be used as an economical substitute for hard disk drives in sub-$250 PCs. Among the first computers using uSSD solid state drives will be the Intel-powered classmate PC, intended for educational markets in emerging nations.

SanDisk’s uSSD 5000 solid state drive is a USB module designed to be embedded directly onto the motherboard of low-cost PCs as a hard disk replacement. The uSSD 5000 solid state drive supports a variety of operating systems, including Microsoft’s Windows XP Professional, Windows XP Embedded, Windows Embedded for Point of Service and Windows CE, as well as Linux. The uSSD 5000 solid state drive is expected to be available in capacities from 2 gigabytes (GB) to 8 GB.

This is the first SSD product from SanDisk to be offered with SanDisk’s patented multi-level cell (MLC) technology. MLC technology doubles data- storage capacities in the same physical space as single-level cell (SLC) technology, resulting in significant cost savings.

Compared to conventional hard disk drives, SanDisk’s uSSD 5000 solid state drives are advantageous in low-cost PCs for a variety of reasons:

• Cost Effectiveness – uSSD 5000 solid state drives at 2GB are significantly less expensive than even the lowest-capacity conventional hard disk drives. Future generations of flash memory will usher in higher storage capacities at the requisite price points.
• Ruggedness – With no moving parts, SanDisk’s uSSD 5000 solid state drives are a perfect fit for kid’s classroom wear-and-tear. The durability of uSSD 5000 solid state drives surpasses mechanical hard disk drives.
• Reliability – SanDisk’s uSSD 5000 solid state drives deliver high reliability based on advanced flash management technology including powerful error detection and correction algorithms.
• Small – At 27mm x 38mm, uSSD 5000 solid state drives are about one-fourth the size of 1.8-inch hard disk drives.
• Strong Performance - uSSD 5000 solid state drives with MLC technology offer performance more than sufficient for the low cost PC market.

Press Release Source: Sandisk.