Dell Latitude D420, D620 ATG Now with SSD

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

“Dell sees potential for flash-based drives and is committing to offer them across next generation Latitude notebooks because they enable better reliability, increased performance and noise reduction”, according to press release.

Dell explains 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.

The tests show that the SSD has an operating shock tolerance of up to 1,300 Gs, which is twice the rating of mechanical drives. In addition, the drives are predicted to reduce the probability of failure by three-and-one-half times compared to standard mechanical drives, according to Dell.

The PC maker says SSDs can also increase system performance by up to 23 percent and decrease boot time by up to 34 percent compared to traditional HDDs available with the Latitude D420 and D620 ATG.

The solid state drives in D420 and D620 ATG are available today at a list price of $549 in the Americas. Availability will soon follow in Europe and Asia.