SanDisk aims solid state drive at OLPC users

SanDisk showed off its new solid state drive (SSD), which is going into the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project machines, at IFA 2007 in Berlin.

"The SanDisk uSSD 5000 will be a perfect choice for sub-£100 computer notebooks to be used by children and students in third world countries," said a representative at the SanDisk stand when we popped by. "There's no moving parts inside the drive, which makes it durable for wear and tear, and the affordable price means that it will be available to more people."

The new USB module drives are designed to be fitted directly onto the motherboard which will be put into the Intel-powered OLPC Classmate computer. They are just about a quarter of the size of standard 1.8-inch hard disk drives, measuring just 27 x 38mm.

The new SanDisk uSSD 5000 drives will be available in capacities from 1GB to 8GB and will support a range 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 low-cost educational PC category is an emerging market for flash storage where low cost, ruggedness and low power consumption will be the primary factors for broad-based adoption," Greg Rhine, senior vice president and general manager of the consumer products division at SanDisk, said in a statement.

The first samples of the SanDisk uSSD 5000 solid state drives are expected within a month.