The end of hard drive failures as we know them?

C.I.M · 18th December 2008, 14:24

Promising headlines on engadgets site today about the new type of hard drives - Solid State Drives (SSD)

Toshiba have announced there new 512 GB SSD should be in production by April 2009.
Whilst SSD´s are still very expensive in comparison to standard hard drives, hopefully in a year or two these should become a normal part of most laptops specification - great improvement on current technology.

Vortex wake · 18th December 2008, 14:39

Yes, seems the way to go, but do remember that with faster broadband, processing power/storage could become remote to the PC eventually, so smaller memory space could be needed.

Hard discs have come a long way - remember having to 'park' your 10 meg (yup 10 meg) HD before moving the PC. How would I-pod work with that

.

Licinius · 18th December 2008, 15:13

I was looking at one recently but they one have a small capacity at the moment. Will look again in a few months time.

C.I.M · 18th December 2008, 16:47

Will be a fantastic improvement when these become standard.
Far less power hungry, less heat, less wear and tear, much reduced failure rate and faster to access data.
Just mega pricey right now.

cots · 19th December 2008, 10:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vortex wake

Yes, seems the way to go, but do remember that with faster broadband, processing power/storage could become remote to the PC eventually, so smaller memory space could be needed.

Hard discs have come a long way - remember having to 'park' your 10 meg (yup 10 meg) HD before moving the PC. How would I-pod work with that

.

Faster broadband is nothing but a dream for us here in San Eugenio Alto. The maximum we can have is 1MB and it never gets anywhere near that. In fact as more and more "properties" are added to the local network the service is degrading rapidly. Today we are running at 350kb!

We asked Telefonica earlier in the week about a speed bump and the answer was not very promising. They didn't quite say never but it wasn't far off. I wouldn't mind but we are hardly out in the sticks are we?

Vortex wake · 19th December 2008, 11:50

But when analogue TV is turned off around the world there will be a large part of the radio spectrum available .
High power wifi is already available in some parts - if that was supplemented by satellite transmissions (such as used by Worldspace in the past) , then even the remote areas could be serviced
.

KirstyJay · 19th December 2008, 14:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vortex wake

But when analogue TV is turned off around the world there will be a large part of the radio spectrum available .
High power wifi is already available in some parts - if that was supplemented by satellite transmissions (such as used by Worldspace in the past) , then even the remote areas could be serviced
.

Well, why don't you get straight onto it then, if you know all about it... you won't have a shortage of customers!

Vortex wake · 5th February 2009, 23:11

BBC NEWS | Technology | Ofcom u-turn on digital dividend

Originally Ofcom promised to safeguard spectrum in the 800Mhz band for wireless microphones and digital terrestrial TV services, but it appears to have had a change of heart.

Now it proposes to make the whole 800MHz band available for mobile broadband and related services and find "alternative spectrum" for wireless microphones and digital terrestrial TV.

slodgedad · 5th February 2009, 23:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by C.I.M

Will be a fantastic improvement when these become standard.
Far less power hungry, less heat, less wear and tear, much reduced failure rate and faster to access data.
Just mega pricey right now.

The same as everything when it is new.
Technology grows in leaps and bounds and therefore becomes cheaper to those who wait.
My first computer was a Vic 20 and when the Commodore 64 (64 meg, total capacity) came out I thought wow, I'll have to save for one of those!!
Wait, as I do, unless you have pots of dosh.
You just have to look at flat screens. What were a mortgage price, only two years ago, are now so abundant that they can't give them away.

'Old geezer, who loves new tech, but is prepared to be a year or two behind'

Watch the pennies.

C.I.M · 5th February 2009, 23:53

Agreed defninitely.
I bought a Nokia 9210 Communicator back in 2000 - brand new, cost a packet and to this day, probably my favourite gadget ever! Until the thing broke just outside of its warranty

Great while it lasted though!

My first computer was a Spectrum, later upgraded to a Commodore 64 - fantastic machine.
Real killer when they brought out the super dooper "Amiga" and I wanst allowed one - gutted!

I tend to look more at new tech (like solid state memory over conventional hard drive) than get excited by yet another speed increase. I´m definitely over my obsession with "fastest, best now."

I never buy cutting edge anymore - rarely worth the 50% price premium to stay 12 months ahead.
But these advances in solid state memory will make a real difference to laptop speed and more importantly durability, hopefully hard drive failures will be even more of a rarity.