Acer's C7 Chromebook is the cheapest way to get in on Google's cloud-OS party. But, it still ships a 320GB 5,400RPM drive. Truth be told, such a large amount of local storage is counter to the whole idea of Chrome OS -- not to mention that the slow spin introduces a certain amount of unwelcome lag. Thankfully the bargain-basement $199 laptop is about to get an SSD makeover, according to a listing at Best Buy. The official specs at the Google Play store still list the standard hard drive, but the big box shop has a model featuring 16GB of solid state storage. The updated C7 keeps the same affordable price point, though we have no idea when it might start shipping. Best Buy lists the Chromebook simply as "coming soon," with no estimated delivery date. From what we can see there are no other changes to the machine, so if you weren't a fan of the cheap construction before, don't expect that to change.

[Thanks, Cody]

Filed under: Laptops, Google

Comments

Source: Best Buy

While single-chip SSDs are clearly known quantities, they usually run at a much more leisurely pace than their larger counterparts. Innodisk doesn't think size and speed have to be contradictory -- it just unveiled an embedded version of its nanoSSD that performs almost as well as its much bigger counterparts. The µSSD-based SATA chip has a tiny footprint (0.63 x 0.79 inches) and draws just 1W of peak power, but can still read at up to 480MB/s and write at 175MB/s. As such, it's one of the few SSDs that can theoretically stuff desktop-class storage into a smartphone or tablet. Whether or not it will is another matter. Innodisk hasn't named customers for the nanoSSD so far, which leaves us guessing just where or when we'll see the drive in a finished product.

Filed under: Cellphones, Laptops, Tablets, Storage

Comments

Source: Innodisk

Times are a-changin' for Salt Lake City-based Fusion-io, as the company's CEO David Flynn has resigned alongside co-founder and CMO Rick White. It seems that both are stepping away in order to "pursue entrepreneurial investing activities," leaving the act of running one of the world's leading flash storage makers for Mr. Shane Robison. Effective immediately, Robison will be knighted chairman, chief executive officer and president, offering up over 30 years of experience in prior roles for AT&T, Cadence Design Systems, HP and Apple.

The outfit's stock price hasn't fared so well in the shuffle, and it seems that it's once again battling murmurs that a sale could be on the horizon. Combating that sentiment, Robison was quoted by Bloomberg as saying that a sale "is not my focus." Rather, he's hoping to "grow the company and build on what [it] has." Here's hoping it all pans out -- the world most certainly doesn't need one less company fighting for the death of the conventional hard drive.

Filed under: Storage

Comments

Source: Fusion-io

Seagate has come a long way in its attitude toward solid-state drives: it went from fighting the future to embracing SSDs with open arms, albeit only in enterprise at first. Now, it's launching its first-ever flash drive for end users, the 600 SSD. The storage will seem familiar to those who've gone shopping for regular SSDs, offering a 480GB max capacity, a laptop-friendly width and a 6Gbps SATA interface. Also, it may be just the perfect fit for those with extra-slim PCs: one 600 SSD variant will have the same 5mm height as Western Digital's Blue UltraSlim. Seagate hasn't disclosed its pricing, but the 600 SSD as well as the server-oriented 600 Pro SSD, 1200 SSD and X8 Accelerator should be available now.

Filed under: Storage

Comments

Source: Seagate

Apple's pre-configured 21.5- and 27-inch iMacs both ship with 1TB hard drives, but if you're willing to wait a day or two for a custom model to ship, two new flash storage options are now on offer. Any iMac configuration can now be had with either a 256GB or 512GB flash upgrade, priced over the base drive at $300 and $600, respectively. A 768GB flash option remains available with the 27-inch model only, for an additional $900. Education and corporate discounts still apply, but even with a modest price drop, be prepared to fork over quite a bit of cash for the turbo-charged drives, available through Apple's online store at the source link below.

Filed under: Desktops, Storage, Apple

Comments

Via: AppleInsider

Source: Apple Store