A new market opens to the Flash memory: that of laptops. Toshiba, Samsung and SanDisk now produce chips DSS for these machines arriving on the market. Machines that it is still premature to buy ...

Everyone knows the flash memory is in the form of USB keys or cards for cameras. In recent months, it is also beginning to replace the hard disk of some laptops. They talk, in this case, disk SSD (Solid State Disk) rather than hard disk platter.

What are the benefits brought about by the use of Flash memory? According to the manufacturers it has, greater autonomy, higher performance and less vulnerability to shocks, for example. But on our side, we have identified five arguments for not moving immediately to laptop Flash memory ...

Offer limited and prices up
The few computers equipped with a disc DSS are all ultraportables. It is not surprising since a disc DSS is less sensitive to shocks and an ultraportable fitting everywhere with itself. But some models are aimed primarily marketed to the professional world, like the Tablet PC Lifebook P 1610 Fujitsu Siemens (2500 euros, 64 gigabytes of disk space) and the Toshiba R500-10U (2300 euros, 64 GB). For the general public, the offer is limited to the Asus EEE PC (300 euros, 4 GB).

The additional cost sometimes equivalent to the average price of a laptop
The new Apple laptop, the MacBook Air, is also a product general public, except its price. Either 2700 euros model with Flash memory of 64 Gb! Choosing to DSS version of a laptop, rather than the model with a hard drive, has a price: 500 euros more from Toshiba and 900 euros from Apple, for example. A difference over the corresponding average price spent by the public to buy a laptop. Either exactly 860 euros, according to the institute GFK.

Gain performance to confirm ...
Review of Lifebook P1610 which was made did not reveal any obvious gain in terms of performance and autonomy. The P1610 starts in 1 minute, does not launch applications more quickly depleting the battery in 4 hours. The only notable difference: the fate of portable paused faster ...

Storage capacity of 64 GB maximum
The laptops sold in commerce board hard drives is with a capacity of 120 GB to 500 GB generally. The few models of laptops DSS board for the moment have only 64 GB. And it will have to wait another moment to see models with a disc of 128 GB SSD.

No significant gains in weight and size
By comparing the ultraportable Packard Bell EasyNote XS, equipped with a hard drive, and the P1610 Fujitsu-Siemens disc with DSS, we find that they present dimensions roughly comparable. The Macbook Air, DSS version, wife of the dimensions and weight identical to those of the model disk drive. No, Flash memory, it is not a slim laptop, but its storage capacity!

It is difficult so therefore a laptop DSS is recommended. This market is still in its infancy. It is better to wait until the offer widens and that the price of its aircraft goes down.