Hybrid HDD Anyone?

Samsung goes commercial with hybrid hard drive
By Michael Kanellos
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
Published: May 15, 2006, 4:50 PM PDT


Samsung Electronics says notebook users will get an extra half hour of battery life and be able to boot up their computers faster using its hybrid hard drive, which will come out in PCs in 2007.

A hybrid hard drive is a hard drive that contains a flash memory chip that stores data and applications. Because the processor can retrieve data from flash, the drive--which spins constantly in an ordinary computer--can stay asleep most of the time.

Spinning drives are one of the most power-hungry components in a computer, so allowing it to idle will lead to about an extra half-hour of battery life on a notebook, said Don Barnetson, director of flash memory at Samsung Semiconductor. "We can cut about 70 to 90 percent of the power consumption" of hard drives, he said.

Full article here...

Sweet. I could do with one of those in my laptop whose battery barely last long enough for me to boot up and check my mail....